Help Us Stranger

''Help Us Stranger'' is the third studio album by American rock band The Raconteurs. It was released on June 21, 2019, through Third Man Records, their first studio album in 11 years following ''Consolers of the Lonely'' (2008). The album was recorded at Third Man Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, and mixed at Blackbird Studios in Nashville. It was produced by the band, engineered by Joshua V. Smith, and mixed by Vance Powell.

Promotion and release

On the tenth anniversary of the band's second studio album, ''Consolers of the Lonely'' released in 2008, Third Man announced a re-issue of the album, along with two previously unreleased songs, "Sunday Driver" and "Now That You're Gone" were released as double A-side singles. Both songs received videos, which were shot a week before the release. On April 2, 2019, the album artwork, along with its track listing and release date were announced. On April 10, "Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)", a cover of the Donovan song, premiered on Bandcamp. Two days later, it was also made available on other platforms. On September 5, 2019 the band performed on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' and performed their new single "Only Child," as well as "Shine the Light on Me."

Critical reception

''Help Us Stranger'' received favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 24 reviews. ''Loudwire'' named it one of the 50 best rock albums of 2019.

Commercial performance

''Help Us Stranger'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 88,000 album-equivalent units, of which 84,000 were pure album sales. It was The Raconteurs' first US number-one album. It has also charted in the top ten in Canada, UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders region).

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel adapted from album notes.

The Raconteurs
*Jack White – vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer, production
*Brendan Benson – vocals, guitar, percussion, harmonica, production
* Jack Lawrence – bass guitar, guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals, production
*Patrick Keeler – drums, percussion, backing vocals, production

Additional musicians
*Dean Fertita – piano, synthesizers, guitar, organ
* Lillie Mae Rische – violin
*Scarlett Rische – mandolin
*Joshua V. Smith – backing vocals, organ

Technical personnel
*Michael Fahey – assistant mixing
*Dusty Fairchild – assistant engineering
*Vance Powell – mixing
*The Raconteurs – production, mixing
*Bill Skibbe – mastering
*Joshua V. Smith – engineering

Other personnel
*Rob Jones – design, cover art concept
*Patrick Keeler – photography, design
*Tristan McNatt – cover art concept
*Ian Montone – management

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Help Us Stranger
2019 albums
The Raconteurs albums
Albums produced by Jack White
Third Man Records albums