The Black Keys have announced their 12th studio album, Ohio Players, will arrive on April 5. Ohio Players arrives on the heels of the band’s 2022 album, Dropout Boogie, and will feature contributions from Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Beck, Noel Gallagher, Greg Kurstin and others.

Drummer Patrick Carney explains: “We had this epiphany: ‘We can call our friends to help us make music.’ It’s funny because we both write songs with other people – Dan all the time [as a solo artist and producer], me when I’m producing a record. That’s what we do.” Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach adds: “No matter who we work with, it never feels like we’re sacrificing who we are. It only feels like it adds some special flavor. We just expanded that palette with people we wanted to work with. We were there to support them and their ideas, to do whatever we could to see that moment flourish. But when it came time to finish the album, it was just Pat and me.”

The band have also released the album’s first single, “Beautiful People (Stay High)”, written by Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Beck and Dan the Automator; you take take a listen – here.

Editorial credit: Astrobobo / Shutterstock.com