The Black Keys were “nervous” while recording new single with Noel Gallagher
Following the release of their new studio album, Ohio Players, The Black Keys have hit the road, beginning their UK tour. However, at their recent show at the recently re-opened O2 Academy Brixton, they brought out Noel Gallagher as a special guest, a feat that singer Dan Auerbach believes will be “hard to beat”.
The blues-inspired duo have been consistently releasing music since they formed in 2001, with Ohio Players marking their fourth release since they returned from a four-year hiatus in 2019. The new record features several guest musicians, such as Beck, Juicy J, and Gallagher.
The Oasis member provides backing vocals on three songs, such as ‘On the Game’, which he also plays guitar on. For their Brixton shows, The Black Keys brought Gallagher out for a surprise performance, much to the delight of their fans.
Talking to Dan O’Connell on Radio X’s The Evening Show the day after their first night in London, Patrick Carney revealed that the gig was “so much fun” before Auerbach chimed in, “It was incredible, really. I mean, amazing venue; crowd was crazy. And we had Noel come out and play some songs with us in the encore, and everybody lost their minds.”
The band blasted through 21 songs, starting with ‘I Got Mine’ from their 2008 album Attack and Release. Then, Gallagher was brought on for the encore, where they performed ‘Only Love Matters’ and ‘On The Game’, before leaving the stage so that the duo could perform their biggest hit, ‘Lonely Boy’.
Auerbach also shed light on how the collaboration with Gallagher came about, revealing that “we just worked it out from nothing. I mean, we had no references beforehand; we didn’t talk about it. We just got into the studio and let it happen organically. And that’s kind of how we worked with him all three days.”
The lead singer admitted that they were “nervous” beforehand, but “after the first day, we got one song under our belt, like, we loosened up a little bit.” He also shared that the “‘On The Game’, the version that you hear on the record” was the second take they recorded “without messing up.”
“We didn’t realise the pressure until after we finished it. It just seemed like a cool idea,” Carney added, “And then after we were basically done with the sessions – It was a couple days later – I was like, ‘oh, that could have gone really bad, actually.’”