Black Keys drummed up some excitement last month with the announcement of Delta Kream, which was described as “featuring Mississippi hill country blues standards that they have loved since they were teenagers, including songs by R.L Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, among others.” The project seems similar in nature to the band’s 2006 EP, Chulahoma: The Songs Of Junior Kimbrough, especially considering that some Kimbrough songs are featured on Delta Kream. Today, they’ve continued rolling out the album with their rendition of “Going Down South,” a Burnside cover.
Like “Crawling Kingsnake,” the previous single from the album, “Going Down South” sees the band returning to the more straightforward garage-blues-rock sound their early material is known for. They also shared a visual for the track, which features footage of the band performing the song and slice-of-life video from Mississippi.
Auerbach says of the cover, “That was one of RL Burnside’s hits! We strayed a little from the original on our version with the falsetto and percussion, but we liked how it sounded in that moment. It’s become one of my favorites on the album.”
Watch the “Going Down South” video above.
Delta Kream is out 5/14 via Nonesuch. Pre-order it here.
The Black Keys is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.