WXRY World Premiere’s the first track from The Black Keys new album Ohio Players all day today on 99.3, 98.1 and 99.1.
The Black Keys kick off the new year with the release of their new single “Beautiful People (Stay High)” – available now on all streaming platforms. The song arrives alongside the announcement of the multiple-Grammy Award-winning, Akron, OH natives’ twelfth studio album Ohio Players, out April 5 via Nonesuch Records. An extensive international tour will be announced at a later date.
Written by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney with longtime friends Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and Beck, the celebratory, joyful “Beautiful People (Stay High)” is one of several songs on the album that feature collaborations between the band and various additional friends and colleagues, including Noel Gallagher, Greg Kurstin, and others.
“What we wanted to accomplish with this record was make something that was fun,” Carney says. “And something that most bands 20 years into their career don’t make, which is an approachable, fun record that is also cool.”
While making Ohio Players, a title inspired by the legendary Dayton, OH funk band of the same name, The Black Keys were also DJing dance parties in cities around the world that they called “record hangs,” spinning 45s from their own eclectic and growing collections. Mojo reports, “The spirit of those parties infused the album’s DNA. ‘That’s been the fun of it,’ [says] Auerbach. ‘Letting go a little bit.’”