For a solid decade, the Raconteurs, Jack White and Brendan Benson's swaggering rock band, were silent. But at the end of last year, the Raconteurs returned, releasing a surprise single that featured two new songs, "Sunday Driver" and "Now That You're Gone." Both of those songs will appear on Help Us Stranger, the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2008's Consolers Of The Lonely. So will "Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)," the Donovan cover that the band shared a little while ago. And today, the Raconteurs have shared another new one, and it's basically the title track of the new album.
"Help Me Stranger" is a hard-swinging shuffle, built on White and Benson's confident harmonies and on a beat that's a little more syncopated than what we're used to hearing from big-name rock bands in recent years. And it's catchy another thing that we can't really say about enough recent rock. The song is one more encouraging sign that White and Benson have locked back into their old groove.
The song comes with a video, which director Yasuhiko Shimizu filmed in the Japanese city of Kimitsu. It's mostly a performance video, though White and Benson also spend some time singing in an old phone booth, and White holds a baby that transforms into smoke. There's also a bit where the band appears to pose for press shots, and one where all of them have glowing green eyes. Check it out below.
Help Us Stranger is out 6/21 on Third Man Records.
