Jack White’s long-dormant band the Raconteurs have returned with their first new music in 10 years, sharing two songs, “Sunday Driver” and “Now That You’re Gone.”
“Sunday Driver” boasts a rocksteady rumble of thumping drums and crunching guitars, though the song also veers into more surreal and serene spaces. During the psych-tinged mid-section, Jack White and the rest of the group sing in hypnotic harmony, “Let’s take a drive, let’s take our time/ Paying no mind to people behind/ The road stretches wide, you’re close by my side/ Let’s kill some time, let’s go for a drive.”
“Now That You’re Gone,” meanwhile, moves deftly between a stripped-down blues stomper – complete with call-and-response guitar riffs and flute trills – and a swaying soul ballad.
“Sunday Driver” and “Now That You’re Gone” will comprise a new seven-inch single that will be included in the next installment of the Third Man Records Vault Series, a 10th anniversary reissue of the Raconteurs’ 2008 album, Consolers of the Lonely. The Raconteurs – which also boasts Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler – recorded the new cuts during sessions for their forthcoming album, which is expected to arrive 2019.