While I was doing my hair and make-up (classic girl) and my other half was having a spring clean the other week, he put on The Black Keys’ latest album, ‘Ohio Players’. Now, they’re a band we’ve both followed for a while, and one he’s actually seen live, whereas I haven’t. Yet, neither of us had realised this divine, joyful 14-tracker had been released. What a pleasure.

I’ve never come across Lil Noid before, but Beck and Juicy J, I have. Interestingly, what these three names have in common is that they did collabs on the record — not something we’re typically used to from Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney. So you’ve got two fun tunes to lap up right there, from just ogling the track listing.

But get right down to spinning and you’ll experience the sunny disposition and throwback-style vibes we enjoyed on the catchy opener, ‘This Is Nowhere’. It had a shoegazy yet summer’s-afternoon feel to it — something you’d expect more from an outfit like Foster The People — and we had zero complaints. And the chorus of ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ had much the same flavour.

Next up, ‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’, which possessed the sort of funky lead hook you’d hear on a home renovations show. You know, that ‘wow’ moment where the before and after shots are revealed? Really playful, and certainly akin to a trippiness hinted at in the title. Plus, you can detect a token woodwind instrumental layer in the background, which is always a good thing. And the really groovy ‘You’ll Pay’, which comes a bit later, has this kind of boogie-worthy style to it, too.

‘On The Game’ had previously been released as a single, so it was naturally more familiar, but it also had a much slower tempo, which made it a little less upbeat and palatable as some of its lively counterparts — for me, at least.

If you’re on the hunt for meaty riffs, ‘Live Till I Die’ and ‘Read Em And Weep’ should do the trick — they’re a bit more ‘El Camino’. But it would be remiss of me to bring up the guitars and not the drums; the intros to ‘Candy and Her Friends’ (which has Lil Noid’s verse) and ‘Please Me (Till I’m Satisfied)’ put these front and centre from the off — so the kills of both musicians are loud and proud, at the fore.

Proceedings get a touch slower on ‘Fever Tree’, before the album comes to a head at its finale, the aptly named ‘Every Time You Leave’. Again, they deliver some stone-cold catchiness that’ll have you singing along until you flip over the vinyl or press ‘play’ and do it all again.

If you only download one track, let it be: ‘This Is Nowhere’