The Black Keys are known for creating a fresh-sounding, minimalist vibe with just drums and a guitar. But to announce their latest album, the band harnessed the powers of YouTube, a menacing hypnotist reading an uncomfortably sexual script, a trippy, spiraling record player, and oh yeah -- Mike Tyson's Twitter account.
How David Lynch was not involved in this madness, we’ll never know.
The blues-rock duo from Akron, Ohio, unveiled on Friday the title of their eighth studio album -- Turn Blue –- which is set to drop on May 13. They did so by sharing a link via Tyson’s verified Twitter account.
Turn Blue http://t.co/N7SaVjl1eD
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) March 21, 2014
Clicking the link took curious passersby to a very dark place on YouTube:
The video itself says nothing of band members Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney’s latest effort until the final, '80s TV-tinged info card:
“We accept: Cash, Check, Wire Transfer, Pay Pal, Bit Coins,” it reads. (Pretty sure they didn’t have Bitcoins back when ads looked this analog, but hey, it’s the Keys -- they’re funny about time like that.)
It’s not the first time the duo used YouTube to announce a project. Back in 2011, Auerbach and Carney made a video to trumpet Blakroc 2, an effort from their side project, a collaboration with hip-hop entrepreneur Damon Dash, featuring emcees rapping over original music.