Bagpipes, Trumpets Enliven New White Stripes CD
Bagpipes and trumpet work from a previously unknown Latin musician are among the new sounds to be heard on the White Stripes’ “Icky Thump,” due in mid-June via Third Man/Warner Bros. The 13-track set was produced by frontman Jack White and follows 2005’s “Get Behind Me Satan,” which debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200.
“Icky Thump” runs the gamut from arena rock to blues to a spoken-word prayer to Saint Andrew. “Conquest” is set to a hot tango rhythm, featuring a trumpeter that White discovered playing a Mexican restaurant in Nashville. The song describes a reversal of roles in a relationship, where “the hunted became the huntress / the hunter became the prey / she with all her female guile / led him helpless down the aisle.”
Bagpipes and a rollicking Scottish dance structure are applied to “Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn,” capped by the refrain of “lai-de-lai-de-li-oh.” Drummer Meg White’s voice can be heard a number of songs, including her banter with Jack on the playful “Rag and Bone” and on the aforementioned spoken-word track “St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air).”
There is no piano on “Icky Thump” despite the instrument’s significant presence on “Get Behind Me Satan,” though several tracks are punctuated with synths and Wurlitzer. Cuts like “300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues” and “Catch Hell Blues,” as suggested by their titles, are a return to the garage-blues that underscored the band’s earlier records.
As previously reported, the album was recorded at Nashville’s Blackbird Studio over the span of three weeks. According to the group’s Web site, an upcoming tour “will include all 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada, as well as the remaining 16 states of the United States the band have yet to play. A few major markets that have been journeyed to in the past will also be included.”
Here is the “Icky Thump” track list:
“Icky Thump”
“You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)”
“300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues”
“Conquest”
“Bone Broke”
“Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn”
“St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)”
“Little Cream Soda”
“Rag and Bone”
“I’m Slowly Turning Into You”
“A Martyr For My Love For You”
“Catch Hell Blues”
“Effect and Cause”
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