The Black Keys, “Ohio Players.”

Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney reportedly found inspiration for their 12th Black Keys album by DJing small gatherings. The concept was pretty simple: The two would spin their favorite 45 RPM singles in clubs for fans. Then they looked to bring that style of music to their own on Ohio Players.

The result is immediately noticeable. Listening to the album with headphones brings the payoff; there’s an entire soundscape in full effect.

The plodding rhythm section and keys that begin album opener “This Is Nowhere” deliver a tight groove with Auerbach soon joining in and delivering his familiar soulful guitar tones. Less obvious are backing vocals by Beck, who was one of several well-known musicians to visit the Black Keys in the studio. Beck sings backup on most of the album’s tracks.

The group made its name on fuzzy blues rock, but the expanding dynamics of Auerbach and Carney are really on display on Ohio Players. “Don’t Let Me Go” is a majestic fusion of a psychedelic, loungy-sounding groove tossed into the blender with horns, soaring harmonies and a driving rhythmic beat.

The moody grooves of “Beautiful People (Stay High)” has gospel swagger with huge vocal harmony in the chorus. Beck is here, too, (he also co-wrote the song), as is Bay Area producer Dan the Automator, who revisits some of the throwback rock sound he explored while working with Miles Kane and others.

The Black Keys also brought in Noel Gallagher for a couple of tracks, including acoustic mid-tempo rocker “On the Game,” on which the assembled rock symphony creates lush soundscapes. In fact, the tracking and tight production on these songs is quite a feat. “On the Game” could be a song by the High Flying Birds, but it’s heavier, naturally with Carney’s drumming closer to the front of the mix.

“Only Love Matters” combines Auerbach’s crunchy guitar lines with a fuzzy bass wallop (also Auerbach) and Carney’s spirited drumming. An organ and choir-like vocals make the song feel especially retro, like something by the Chambers Brothers. Variety abounds. The melancholic “Candy and Her Friends” opens with descending and ascending guitar fretwork before the song stops on a dime and pivots to a menacing, clap-beat number with rapper Lil Noid spitting bars with a smoky delivery.

The duo does another about-face on “I Forgot to Be Your Lover,” a mid-tempo string-laden slow jam. With guitarist Tommy Brenneck, Kelly Finnegan on Hammond organ, pianist Mike Rojas, percussionist Sam Bacco and Matt Combs on strings, the Black Keys no longer sound like a modern band trying to revive a sound but a band that’s been teleported directly from that time.

“Have I told you lately that I loved you?/ Well if I didn’t, then I’m sorry,” Auerbach sings.

A wall of percussion launches the band into blues rocker “Please Me (Till I’m Satisfied).” Carney’s cacophonous drumming lifts the track and plays well off of Auerbach’s lively vocal delivery.

“You’ll Pay,” too, sounds plucked straight out of the late ’60s with its guitar-driven attack. Gallagher and frequent Auerbach collaborator Leon Michels (El Michels Affair) join in on the romp. Michels’ sax bursts and surf-rock guitar lines create a vibe that recalls that of the Beach Boys—which speaks to the title of the album: a bunch of talented players in a room seeing what they can do together. The album’s list of musical and technical contributors, including engineers like M. Allen Parker and Caleb Vanbuskirk, and mixing by Mark “Spike” Stent (who just helped Miley Cyrus win her first Grammy) and his team, should not be overlooked here.

Beck returns, this time to the forefront, sharing vocal features with rapper Juicy J on “Paper Crown,” which begins as an old-school West Coast hip-hop track (which Dan the Automator did NOT produce). By the chorus, it’s reformed into the Black Keys’ signature rock sound, until it flips again, slowing way down—you can picture a record bubbling in the heat as it melts and comes to a standstill—just in time for the Juicy J feature.

Loud and raw “Live Till I Die” sounds … like a Beck song! He’s here in the background, just below the massive blast of harmonies once the chorus hits. In contrast, “Read Em & Weep” is a musical spaghetti Western, with some exceptional guitar work (another surf guitar part) to boot.

The Black Keys land the album gently with melodic rocker “Fever Tree” and mid-tempo rocker “Every Time You Leave,” the latter featuring, among others, producer Greg Kurstin on a variety of instruments.

Editor Roman Gokhman contributed to this story.