Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid

Keep It Hid is the solo debut of Dan Auerbach, singer and guitarist for the Black Keys. It opens up with “Trouble Weighs a Ton”, a song with a country feel that includes only a mellow acoustic guitar and harmonies, which give this song a very eerie, yet soothing sound.
“I Want Some More” bursts out of the smooth acoustic track preceding it with a somewhat heavier, more psychedelic groove. Auerbach’s multi-instrumental talents shine through in the song with distorted bass, and guitar riffs, and a keyboard that produces a sound straight out of the late sixties. The next track on the album follows in the same psychedelic vein. “Heartbroken, In Disrepair” is a very dark love song, with the some notably haunting lyrics as “Searching for light, grasping for air / Heartbroken, in disrepair.”
“Whispered Words” breaks the psychedelic feel and slows it down for a few tracks. The words for this song were written by Auerbach’s father ,Charles, and put to music by Auerbach himself. The music is very soothing, but doesn’t lose the garage rock feel. The next song opens with a solid keyboard part, and a synthetic drum machine beat that is quickly replaced by authentic drums. “Real Desire” calls on many elements of the blues in its guitar line, which can be heard wailing behind the lyrics for the duration of the track, and comes out into the spot light for a solo toward the end.
“When the Night Comes” slows it down even more, to the effect of the first track of the album. A slow acoustic guitar line is accompanied by a ghostly violin piece in the background, and a very light drum track that is hard to notice through most of the song.
The calm is broken by the next track on the album. “Mean Monsoon” has a driving drum track that gives the feel of “I Want Some More” earlier in the album and Auerbach’s blues guitar influence can again be seen in this song, also carrying into the next song. “The Prowl” is a very interesting track lyrically, showing life through the eyes of seemingly, a stalker. With lyrics like “I wish someone could understand / but you know I could never tell / I’ll just live on in the dark / If there’s no harm, there’s no foul”, that’s sure how it seems.
The title track or the album also comes in with a synthetic drum part that is soon replaced by real drums. “Keep It Hid” is driven by the simple yet powerful bass line, which makes it easy for another very bluesy guitar line to dance over it.
“My Last Mistake”, the next track on the album, is the first song with a very pop rock feel to it. Its lyrical structure puts the narrator in a very shaky, inquisitive voice in the first half of the song, and a more staunch answering voice in the second half.
“When I Left the Room” does the unthinkable. It combines elements of country, and psychedelic rock, into a guitar driven track with banjo accompaniment. It works out very well. “Street Walkin’” is another song that is somewhat poppy, with a bit of Nineties grunge feel thrown into the mix. “Goin’ Home” closes out the album just at beautifully as it was brought it in. A very calm, acoustic country feel and lyrics telling of how the narrator is goin’ home are a sort of good-bye and thanks for listening.