Ultraviolence (Interscope, 2014), produced by the Black Keys'

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Ultraviolence (Interscope, 2014), produced by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, jettisoned the hip-hop beats and, by that single move, achieved a much deeper sense of sincerity. Cruel World is the ultimate cry of loneliness, with psychedelic overtones and reminiscent of Jim Steinman's teen melodramas (the melody spirals up in a manner similar to Bonnie Tyler's hit Total Eclipse Of The Heart). West Coast is a blues lament derailed by details such as a soprano surge and a vintage guitar twang, which appropriately segues into the slow-burning, martial, plantation chant Sad Girl, perhaps the peak of pathos. Shades Of Cool weaves its tenderness around a desperate melismatic yodel, a waltzing tempo and a stoic guitar solo (and well disguised is the influence of Janis Joplin on this structure). It gets even sadder than that, in the funereal Pretty When You Cry, whose grandiose finale borrows from Kate Bush and Pink Floyd. The rest is filler. As a five-song EP, this would have been a masterpiece.