Black Key insists he is not a one-band man

Dan Auerbach cannot chose a "best" from the numerous albums he has worked on.

Dan Auerbach is best known as the singing, song-writing, guitar-playing other half to drummer Patrick Carney in The Black Keys. But he was also one of the brains behind the excellent Blakroc project in 2009, as well as the production might behind records from the likes of Dr John, Ray La Montagne and Lana Del Rey.

The 36-year-old won't pick favourites when he's asked to list the best albums he's worked on, including an impressive eight from The Black Keys. But what is clear is that his new group The Arcs, and their debut record Yours, Dreamily, is dear to his heart.

"I really respect these guys. Besides Pat [Carney], they are some my oldest musical friends. They're a part of everything, all the way back to [The Black Keys record] Brothers. We also worked together on the Dr John record, the Ray La Montagne record. And we've been recording music in our free time for years, but we just never released anything."

Then Auerbach and his friends got together to go through their songs. As it turns out, those tunes haven't made it onto Yours, Dreamily. Instead, these are new tracks recorded in just two weeks. "It was less about picking from those 65 songs we had and more about realising how much output we had and how important it was for us to do something about that. It seemed dumb to keep it hidden."

The album has the unmistakable Auerbach touch. The lead single Outta My Mind draws on the same retro rock vibe that made Brothers such a hit.

But there's also an ethereal quality, evidenced in Stay In My Corner. "We wanted it to be dreamy. We love music that's psychedelic and so we definitely had that in mind when we were putting it together."

Auerbach is busy but he plans to take The Arcs on the road. "It's funny because when we tour it'll be way more people on stage but way less people surrounding us," he laughs. He points out that in The Black Keys only two of them are on stage and 35 people are in the crew but they will probably only have six on the road with The Arcs. "It's like starting over. I'm really excited."

It'd be remiss not to wonder if Auerbach's excitement is a signal that The Black Keys have run their course. But he'll only say he's not a one-band kind of guy. "I would never just want to do one thing, I've always made music with other people. And this record is about who I am - it's me and my friends."

• The Arcs' Yours, Dreamily is out now.