Jack White goes country: The rock icon tones down the distortion in "Just One Drink," off album Lazaretto.

Jack White's Catchy New Song, "Just One Drink," Has Some Country Twang

Jack White's Catchy New Song, "Just One Drink," Has Some Country Twang

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Slate's Culture Blog
May 17 2014 7:18 PM

Jack White's Catchy New Song, "Just One Drink," Has Some Country Twang

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Jack White's latest is a barn-stomper of an anthem.

Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

What's been released from Lazaretto, Jack White's second solo album, has been familiar for fans: frenzied and ferocious riffs, stripped-down songwriting, and White's own passionate, almost primal vocals. The newest cut off the album, though, is a minor departure: "Just One Drink" is clearly a Jack White song, but it's less explosive than the other tracks, forgoing distorted rock for acoustic singalong and country twang.

The country influence isn't too unprecedented; plenty of White's early material incorporated the genre, and his cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" is one of his best tracks. Here he lays pining lyrics ("I love you/but honey why don't you love me") over some heavy piano and a fiddle. It all sounds like someone recorded a heartbroken White and his backing band in a rowdy bar, but it works. Lazaretto hits shelves June 10.

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Sharan Shetty is on the editorial staff of the New Yorker. You can follow him on Twitter