No one saw it coming. The sixth solo album by American rocker Jack White, ex-White Stripes and head of the Third Man Records label, was released to everyone’s surprise in mid-summer through a rather unusual distribution channel. On Friday, July 19, without any advance notice, customers of Third Man Records stores in London, Nashville and Detroit (Jack White owns all three) were kindly offered, in addition to their purchases, a mysterious white vinyl cover stamped only with the mention Unnamed (“no name”). Only once the LP was placed on the turntable did the lucky buyers discover that it was Jack White III’s sixth studio album.
Within hours, the album was pirated and shared on the Web, prompted by the father himself. The precious copies are sold for up to 1,800 euros on the e-commerce site Discogs.com. Available from August 2 in digital version and in selected independent record stores in physical format (in limited edition on blue vinyl), Unnamed has been widely distributed on CD and vinyl since September 15. With this promotional gimmick, the “guitar hero” of the 2000s and marketing whiz proves that he is always one or even two steps ahead.
The head of the Third Man Records label has his own recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as his own vinyl pressing factory. Completely autonomous, he can control all the stages (creation, editing, distribution in his shops), which makes him a special case in the music world. The free spirit of rock has also improvised a tour of small clubs in the United States (all concerts were sold out), just like in the old days of the White Stripes.
Straight to the point, without embellishments like its title “no name”, the material does not deceive about the product. In terms of inspiration, we have not heard the Tim Burton of rock in such a state of emergency since the end, in 2011, of his explosive tandem with drummer Meg White.
Supercharged riffs
Whether solo or with his side projects – The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs – the musician and producer has accustomed us in recent years to delivering increasingly produced and arranged albums. After Fear of dawn AND Enter heaven aliveReleased in 2022, two dense and varied albums, offered with Unnamed a return to the roots of his galvanizing garage blues punk. Surrounded by longtime bassist Dominic John Davis, Raconteurs drummer Patrick Keeler and keyboardist Bobby Emmett (a new recruit), the Detroit Rock City native delivers a raw record with no downtime.
You have 32.77% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
