When I first heard the news, I thought it was an unholy union; The Black Keys and uber-producer Dangermouse. The former known for their stripped back and balls to the wall Blues-rock approach, the latter more known for his work with Gnarls Barkley and Gorrilaz - an embellishing producer with ticks and tricks up his sleeve. It was only after hearing his delicate and revealing production on The Good, The Bad & The Queen album from last year was I less nervous. Could this man give a lift to The Black Keys? Alter the mix, freshen things up a bit after the relative sidestep that was 2005's Magic Potion... The answer is a resounding "YES".

'All You Ever Wanted' starts the album sedately. Calming, loose and free, it's Dan Auerbach's laid back vocals that steal the show. The gentle tap of drums and acoustic guitars, it feels like something more akin to a wake - the noise of the Delta Blues progressing through the streets of the ruined New Orleans. It's only once it's lulled you in does it let rip. The Hammond chords rupture the quiet whilst the familiar guitar noise bursts from behind it. 'I Got Mine' completely blows the cobwebs away. The opening echo of "I was a moving man in my younger days" churning around the crunching riffs and battling drums. It has an urgency that echoes their earlier work. Here, Dangermouse's production adds an extra dimension to the music. The spooky and surreal chanting and riffs break up the song before it crashes back into life. 'Strange Times' continues this theme - everything hanging from Auerbach's thunderous riffs and Carney's thumping drums. Once again the song slides away in places, revealing an inner sanctum, the calm eye of the storm raging around it.

What surprises is that, even though the songs are as lo-fat and filler free as usual from The Keys, the production has embellished the sound just enough to ensure it's still undeniably them but with the added fact that they've actually moved on. 'Psychotic Girl' is drenched in Dangermouse's signature thick production. The song is all about the sinister, darker side of the human condition and the whole song actually FEELS as though it's entrenched in this dark heart. It's caught in the tangled web of psychosis itself.

I refuse to continue to go through the tracks... It's just a pointless exercise: they're all great. The crackling riff and drums that underpin 'Remember When B'; the rippling and funky bass line to 'Same Old Thing' with it's 70's pan pipes and muscular guitars before the sonic rush that becomes 'Oceans & Streams'. What we are left with though is the tear-jerker that is 'Things Ain't Like They Used To Be'. A duet between Dan Auerbach and 18-year-old country singer Jessica Lea Mayfield, it pulls on heart strings so tight that you're left with visions of loners the World over crying until the end of time.

So who'd have thought it? Not only have The Black Keys found a new sound, that's still uniquely them, but they've also polished their song writing to go with it. No longer happy to plough a familiar furrow, they're not just looking back but looking to the future as well. 90%Links The Black Keys [official site] [myspace]