No Rain, No Flowers
No Rain, No Flowers is an easy record to spend time with. The Black Keys put warm melodies and steady grooves at the front, with fewer rough edges than some of their earlier work. That makes it inviting, although it also means the album occasionally gets comfortable a little too quickly.
The title track is a good start. The chorus is immediate, the rhythm has a lightness to it, and Dan Auerbach sounds relaxed without becoming absent. The Night Before keeps the momentum going with another direct hook. These songs don't need much explanation. The band have found a pleasant sound and know how to write within it.
There is more piano in the arrangements this time, and it makes a useful difference. Babygirl has a strong rhythmic bounce, while Make You Mine moves towards a smoother kind of soul-pop. The strings give that song some extra weight, and Auerbach's higher vocal register fits the change. It is one of the clearer examples of the album finding something worthwhile beyond a familiar guitar tone.
Man on a Mission brings back more crunch. That is welcome after some of the softer material, and the riff gives the record a firmer centre. The contrast also reveals what is missing from a few other tracks: a little friction. When everything is this polished, even a good melody can pass by without leaving much of a mark.
The later A Little Too High adds a loose, rootsy feel, and Neon Moon closes with a warmer, more reflective atmosphere. Neither song feels forced into the running order. The band are good at joining these different shades together, even if the overall mood rarely changes very much.
The album is a sensible length, and there is enough strong songwriting to make it worthwhile. It would be easier to love with a bit more risk, but the pleasantness has its own appeal. No Rain, No Flowers is particularly effective when the groove and the melody do something together, rather than simply making the same nice sound.
