Lo/Hi

{{Infobox song | name = Lo/Hi | cover = Lo Hi The Black Keys single.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = The Black Keys | album = Let's Rock | released = March 7, 2019 | recorded = 2019 | studio = Easy Eye Sound (Nashville, Tennessee) | genre = * Garage rock<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/black-keys-lo-hi-song-you-need-to-know-804625/|title=Song You Need To Know: The Black Keys, 'Lo/Hi'|website=Rolling Stone|first=Angie|last=Martoccio|date=March 8, 2019|accessdate=March 23, 2019}}</ref> * blues rock * psychedelic rock  | length = 2:57 | label = Nonesuch | writer = * Dan Auerbach * Patrick Carney  | producer = * The Black Keys | prev_title = Weight of Love | prev_year = 2015 | next_title = Eagle Birds | next_year = 2019 }} "'''Lo/Hi'''" is a song by the American rock band the Black Keys. It was released as the lead single from their ninth album, ''Let's Rock'', on March 7, 2019. The song topped ''Billboard''{{'}}s Mainstream Rock, Adult Alternative Songs, Rock Airplay, and Alternative Songs charts in the United States simultaneously, making it the first song ever to do so.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/the-black-keys-top-all-4-rock-airplay-charts-simultaneously-lo-hi/|title=The Black Keys Are First Act to Rule All Four Rock Airplay Charts Simultaneously, With 'Lo/Hi'|website=Billboard|access-date=May 16, 2019}}</ref>

== Background and recording == The single was the first new material by the band in nearly five years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2019/03/the-black-keys-lo-hi-single-listen/|title=The Black Keys Release 'Lo/Hi,' Their First New Single in Five Years |website=Spin|first=Winston|last=Cook-Wilson|date=March 7, 2019|accessdate=March 7, 2019}}</ref> The next day, the song was used by CBS as the theme for its promotion and coverage of the 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament along with a video of the Black Keys performing it in an airplane hangar.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ohio.com/entertainmentlife/20190308/black-keys-new-song-is-ncaa-march-madness-theme|title=Black Keys' new song is NCAA March Madness theme|website=Akron Beacon Journal|date=March 8, 2019|accessdate=March 8, 2019}}</ref> The song was written by band members Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney and was recorded in late 2018 at Easy Eye Sound in Nashville, Tennessee.<ref name="CoS">{{cite web |last=Kaye |first=Ben |title=The Black Keys return with first song in five years 'Lo/Hi': Stream |url=https://consequence.net/2019/03/the-black-keys-lo-hi-stream/ |website=Consequence of Sound |access-date=March 23, 2019 |date=March 7, 2019|quote=Written and produced by Auerbach and Carney themselves, the song was recorded at the former's Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville, Tennessee}}</ref>

== Composition == David Paulson, writing for ''The Tennessean'', described "Lo/Hi" as a "a groovy, gritty rock" and "soulful" track. He compared the track's sound to the likes of British glam rock band T. Rex.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Black Keys return with first new song in 5 years, 'Lo/Hi' |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/03/07/black-keys-new-song-album-lo-hi-tour-dan-auerbach-patrick-carney/3090589002/ |website=The Tennessean |accessdate=March 23, 2019 |date=March 7, 2019}}</ref> In a positive review, Althea Legaspi and Ryan Reed, writing for ''Rolling Stone'', called Lo/Hi, as a "scorching, psychedelic" track.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Reed |first1=Ryan |last2=Legaspi |first2=Althea |title=The Black Keys Return With Scorching New Song 'Lo/Hi' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-black-keys-lo-hi-song-listen-804515/ |website=Rolling Stone |accessdate=March 22, 2019 |date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>

Joshua Bote of NPR described "Lo/Hi" as "rich" and "gospel-style", and said it was a return to their earlier Southern/blues style as opposed to the more funk orientated previous album, ''Turn Blue''. "The Akron, Ohio duo of Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach built its name off chugging, crunchy Southern rock like the type dispensed on "Lo/Hi," so it's a welcome return from the gentler sounds that colored the group's last album, 2014's Turn Blue."<ref>{{cite web |last=Bote |first=Joshua |title=The Black Keys Return With 'Lo/Hi,' Its First Song In Five Years |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2019/03/07/701047026/the-black-keys-return-with-lo-hi-its-first-song-in-five-years |website=NPR |accessdate=March 23, 2019 |date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>

Jillian Mapes, writing for ''Pitchfork'', compared the style of the song to ZZ Top, and offered a more mixed review of the song, praising the background vocals of Leisa Hans and Ashley Wilcoxson, which inject "a welcome texture", but concluded that the track was "wholly unsurprising".<ref>{{cite web |last=Mapes |first=Jillian |title="Lo/Hi" by The Black Keys Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/the-black-keys-lohi/ |website=Pitchfork |accessdate=March 23, 2019 |date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>

== Commercial performance == "Lo/Hi" was the Black Keys' first top-ten song on the Hot Rock Songs chart in nearly seven years, entering at number 34 in its first week before reaching number five the second week. The song collected 2.3 million streams and 8,000 digital downloads in its first week in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rutherford |first=Kevin |title=The Black Keys Return to Hot Rock Songs Chart's Top 10 With 'Lo/Hi' |url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/the-black-keys-return-hot-rock-songs-chart-top-10-lo-hi/ |website=Billboard |access-date=March 23, 2019 |date=March 21, 2019}}</ref> The song made history by topping ''Billboard''{{'}}s Mainstream Rock, Adult Alternative Songs, Rock Airplay, and Alternative Songs charts simultaneously, making it the first time any song has reached number one on all four formats at once.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/the-black-keys-top-all-4-rock-airplay-charts-simultaneously-lo-hi/|title=The Black Keys Are First Act to Rule All Four Rock Airplay Charts Simultaneously, With 'Lo/Hi'|website=Billboard|access-date=May 16, 2019}}</ref>

==Personnel== '''The Black Keys''' *Dan Auerbach – lead vocals, guitars, bass guitar, co-producer *Patrick Carney – drums, percussion, co-producer

'''Additional personnel''' *Leisa Hans – backing vocals *Ashley Wilcoxson – backing vocals

'''Production''' *Tchad Blake – mixing engineer *Richard Dodd – mastering engineer *M. Allen Parker – engineer *Marc Whitmore – engineer

==Charts== {{col-start}} {{col-2}}

===Weekly charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- ! scope="col"| Chart (2019) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- {{single chart|Flanders Tip|2|artist=The Black Keys|song=Lo/Hi|accessdate=April 12, 2019|rowheader=true}} |- {{single chart|Wallonia Tip|20|artist=The Black Keys|song=Lo/Hi|accessdate=April 12, 2019|rowheader=true}} |- ! scope="row"| Bolivia (Monitor Latino)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://charts.monitorlatino.com/top20/Print/bolivia/general/20190520|title=Bolivia General|language=Spanish|publisher=Monitor Latino|accessdate=July 17, 2019}}</ref> | 11 |- {{single chart|Billboardcanadianhot100|86|artist=The Black Keys|accessdate=March 23, 2019|rowheader=true}} |- {{single chart|Billboardcanadarock|3|artist=The Black Keys|accessdate=March 23, 2019|rowheader=true}} |- ! scope="row"| Czech Republic (Modern Rock)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hitparada.ifpicr.cz/index.php?a=titul&hitparada=21&titul=162399&sec=5c3eb20938c36b0c1703f9fa96922487|title=CZ - Radio - Top 20 Modern Rock - Black Keys - Lo/Hi|publisher=IFPI Czech Republic|accessdate=October 12, 2022|language=Czech}}</ref> | 13 |- ! scope="row"| New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/hot-singles/2019-03-15|title=NZ Hot Singles Chart|publisher=Recorded Music NZ|date=March 18, 2019|access-date=May 18, 2021}}</ref> | 23 |- {{single chart|Billboardrocksongs|5|artist=The Black Keys|accessdate=March 23, 2019|rowheader=true}} |- {{single chart|Billboardrockairplay|1|artist=The Black Keys|accessdate=March 23, 2019|rowheader=true}} |} {{col-2}}

===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- ! scope="col"| Chart (2019) ! scope="col"| Position |- ! scope="row"| US Hot Rock Songs (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2019/hot-rock-songs|title=Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2019|work=Billboard|accessdate=December 12, 2019}}</ref> | 15 |- ! scope="row"| US Rock Airplay Songs (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2019/rock-airplay-songs|title=Rock Airplay Songs – Year-End 2019|work=Billboard|accessdate=December 12, 2019}}</ref> | 6 |} {{col-end}}

==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=The Black Keys|title=Lo/Hi|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2019|certyear=2024|accessdate=June 26, 2024}} {{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=yes|noshipments=yes}}

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:2019 singles Category:2019 songs Category:The Black Keys songs Category:Songs written by Dan Auerbach Category:Songs written by Patrick Carney