Dan Auerbach's new record is perfect for a laidback summer cruise

Dan Auerbach's new album is filtered through a 70s summer haze.

First things first: does Dan Auerbach's second solo album make up for the lack of action by The Black Keys lately? Erm, well, no, not really.

Waiting on a Song contains none of the blues-drenched, stadium-filling rock 'n' roll Auerbach and Patrick Carney are known for. If you're looking for gold on the ceiling, you're just not going to find it here.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Instead of beefing up Waiting on a Song's 10 tracks with studio sheen and audio trickery, Auerbach's letting his delicate selection of songs - the follow-up to 2009's low key Keep It Hid - speak for themselves.

That means the production is rough and ready, like everything's being filtered through a hazy summer sheen, especially on Shine on Me, an upbeat singalong that could soundtrack a kids show.

Elsewhere, Auerbach's hook on Livin' in Sin is sung like a celebration, and Cherrybomb is a pure 70s funkbomb workout.

The closest he gets to his former guise is on the stomp of Malibu Man, but he uses synths, horns and cowbells instead of guitar snarl and drum bite to hit his point home.

Yes, Auerbach's gone pop, phoning it in down a crackling line straight from a summer day in the 70s, and it's almost good enough to make you forget these frostbitten mornings.

It's laidback and low-key, which is bound to disappoint Black Keys fans. But with Carney and Auerbach on hiatus, it's just going to have to do.

Dan Auerbach - Waiting on a Song

Label: Easy Eye Sound
Verdict: The sound of a 70s summer cruise