The Raconteurs Release New Single, “Help Me Stranger”

The Raconteurs have released new single “Help Me Stranger,” the latest track off their long-anticipated new album, Help Us Stranger, which will be out through frontman Jack White’s very own Third Man Records on June 21. The album will be the band’s first in over a decade.

“Help Us Stranger sees the mighty Raconteurs reassembled, stronger and even more vital than ever before as they continue to push rock ‘n’ roll forward into its future, bonding prodigious riffs, blues power, sinewy psychedelia, Detroit funk and Nashville soul via Benson and White’s uncompromising songcraft and the band’s steadfast musical muscle,” a press release explains.

The new single’s accompanying music video begins with the muted strumming of an acoustic guitar and a couple dancing in a hazy green glow before a sudden jump into a pumped-up groove of guitars, drums and perfectly melded voices.

“If you call me I come running,” they sing. “You can call me any time.”

A swinging shuffle, “Help Me Stranger” is a deliciously catchy return to The Raconteurs’ typical laid-back groove.

“Help me stranger / Help me get it off my mind,” the video, filmed last month in Kimitsu, Japan, by director and visual effects specialist Yasuhiko Shimizu, continues as Jack White plays with a cute baby and the band poses for press photos with an endearing awkwardness.

Previous singles from Help Us Stranger include “Sunday Driver,” “Now That You’re Gone” and a cover of Donovan’s “Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness);

The band’s North American tour kicks off in Detroit on July 12. Third Man Records has also announced a special independent record store-exclusive white vinyl version of the new album with an alternate cover and LP jacket, available on the June 21 release day.

Find out more about the forthcoming album here. The band’s full tour schedule can be found here.

Watch the “Help Me Stranger” video below.