Dan Auerbach, known for being the front man of band The Black Keys, has a new project: he is recording a soundtrack for a comic book named “Murder Ballads.”
Initially it seems outlandish, but the idea is actually fascinating. “Murder Ballads,” the comic book that started it all, is a “rock ’n’ roll noir story about the music industry and redemption.” The story follows a record label owner, Nate Theodore, that meets with two blues artists, Donny and Marvell Frontweathers. Based off the series’ title, somewhere along the line the plot will take a deadly turn through the brothers’ playing of “a raucous brand of doom-laden country blues.”
Auerbach became involved through his friendship with “Murder Ballads” creator, Gabe Soria. The latter had the idea fully formed for many years, and Auerbach and Soria connected over their shared interest in country-blues music, around which the soundtrack is based. Soria is the comic’s author, with Paul Reinwand as illustrator. Songs will draw on characters and lines from the story, accompanying it and providing the audio that will make the musical element of the story more realistic. Auerbach collaborated with Dirtbomb’s Mick Collins and several other musicians, and says that the album will be “shorter than a double LP and longer than eight minutes”.
In terms of pairing the comic book and the soundtrack, Auerbach admits he finds it the concept difficult:
“I can’t personally listen to music that has lyrics and read at the same time. That’s like doing two yo-yos at once. Absolute insanity. So I know how I’m gonna enjoy it: I’ll do them separately, but they’ll be connected in my mind.”
