Black Keys, Pixies announce new albums

The Black Keys have a new album coming out May 13, "Turn Blue."

By August Brown

March 24, 2014 1:10 PM PT

Two beloved bands have each announced new albums.

The Pixies said today that a new record, “Indie Cindy,” would compile three recent EPs and singles into a single long-player. The album, produced by longtime collaborator Gil Norton, will be released April 29 on the band’s own label, Pixiesmusic, in a variety of formats.

“New music seemed like something we just had to do; we just couldn’t continue to go out and tour without anything new,” drummer David Lovering said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “So the talk evolved into writing and recording, and we’re all very happy with the way everything worked out.”

The EPs have earned mixed reviews at best. The Times’ Mikael Wood described “EP-1” thusly: “After touring its classic material for several years as a kind of hipster oldies act, the hugely influential alt-rock band finally put out some new music last September in the form of the four-song ‘EP-1.’ The only problem? It wasn’t any good.”

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The band’s lineup has also seen turmoil. Founding bassist Kim Deal left, then the group fired her replacement, the Muffs’ Kim Shattuck, and has yet to announce a permanent replacement.

Meanwhile, the indie-blues duo the Black Keys have an LP of entirely new tunes on the way.

“Turn Blue” is the eighth full-length from the group, whose 2011 album “El Camino” went platinum and made them major stars. “Turn Blue” is scheduled for a May 13 release on Nonesuch Records.

The band produced the album with Danger Mouse, and it’s a marked departure from the fiery riffage of the Black Keys’ past records. Lead single “Fever,” which is out now as a paid download or as part of an album pre-order, has a disco-inspired beat and a heavy coating of vintage synthesizer.

It’s likely to polarize longtime fans, but it does signal a new adventurousness from a band with a very identifiable sound. Listen to it below and try not to let the spiraling “Turn Blue” album art break your brain.