In the weeks before release, Dan Auerbach started describing Yours, Dreamily as “really experimental” and “extra weird.” Then the Black Keys frontman walked it back, letting fans know it’s “not over your head. I hate when people try to be so obviously out there.” So, how weird is it? Well, it starts with a carnival organ and a hypnotically slow human voice. (I suppose that’s pretty weird.) Its best song, “Stay In My Corner,” was inspired by the uninspiring Mayweather/Pacquiao bout. (That’s pretty weird, even if Auerbach likes to spar backstage before shows, which is weirder.) But for all the weird background noises and all the weird lyrics (“Pass me my hammer/I’ll hold it in my hand/We can never change the universe as planned”), the weirdest thing is that Auerbach felt like raising this retro-soul freak flag in the first place, and that it works so well. The band clicks perfectly, as if it had been playing these songs forever, and the album brings out another side of Auerbach, with different guitar textures and a different falsetto, channeling his blues-rock instincts in a different direction. Hell, I’d salute it.
—Kenny Berkowitz
