The Black Keys announce new single ‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’ with ‘Lonely Boy’ throwback video

The Black Keys have a new song on the way, ‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’.

• READ MORE: The Black Keys talk returning to the UK and their “epic” new album 

The band confirmed that the track will drop on Friday (January 12) and was co-written with Dan the Automator and longtime friend Beck, who worked extensively on their forthcoming album and recently joined them on stage in Paris to perform his hit ‘Loser’.

The band teased the song by sharing a snippet of the music video, which features the same security guard, Derrick T. Tuggle, dancing and lip syncing to the track in a call back to the video for their 2011 hit ‘Lonely Boy’.

Our new single “Beautiful People (Stay High)” written by Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Beck and Dan the Automator comes out this Friday, January 12th. Available to pre-save now https://t.co/af3jVsuA6f pic.twitter.com/c86mfIkpcX

— The Black Keys (@theblackkeys) January 8, 2024

The Black Keys spoke to NME about their forthcoming record – the follow-up to 2022’s ‘Dropout Boogie’ – last April, in which they discussed working on it with “incredible” Noel Gallagher.

“He’s hilarious and super talented,” said Patrick Carney. “We were referring to him as ‘The Chord Lord’ because he’s just a perfectionist with it.”

“Dan and I are big fans of him and Liam,” he continued. “Actually, the Liam song ‘Everything’s Electric’ is why we decided to work with Kurstin [who produced the track].”

Noel Gallagher has also commented on the music he’s made with The Black Keys, saying that the songs he’s co-written with them are “fucking amazing”.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Gallagher, who spent time with The Black Keys, shared: “We did a week in the studio in London and wrote three songs and I’ve gotta tell you, they’re fucking amazing.”

They also explained how Beck got involved and how he brought their vision into focus. “We started writing with him and that was the beginning of what we’re finishing now, an epic album that’s our best record for sure,” said Carney. “It won’t be out until next year though.”

Carney continued: “It’s a weird, full circle thing. Our first tour was with Sleater-Kinney and they took us to a Saturday Night Live afterparty because they knew the musical guest, Beck.”

“We’re working with a lot of people and the vibe of the record is fun,” he said. “It’s reflective of our DJ nights in a way, it’s a big Saturday night party record. We just had people come through the studio and throw a little bit of special sauce at each song.

“There are just so many different collaborations but there’s a thread through it with Dan and I filtering everything. It just feels really fucking amazing.”

Meanwhile, in November, Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox covered ‘Lonely Boy’ as part of their viral online ‘Sunday Lunch’ series.