The record was their fourth collaboration with Danger Mouse, following their previous studio album, El Camino (2011), which was their biggest commercial and critical success to that point.

For Turn Blue, Danger Mouse reprised his role from El Camino as an equal songwriting partner alongside guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.

In addition to representing the record's moody tone, the title was selected as a homage to the "turn blue" catchphrase used by 1960s horror host Ghoulardi.

The band announced the album in March 2014 via a tweet by retired boxer Mike Tyson and a series of cryptic YouTube videos featuring a hypnotist.

[5] It was co-produced and co-written by the band's frequent collaborator Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton, who had previously produced the group's 2008 album Attack & Release and their 2010 single "Tighten Up".

In the US, it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and sold 206,000 copies in its first week, the highest single-week sales and (to that point) charting position the group had achieved in the country.

[13] Speaking about the two-and-a-half-year gap between the release of El Camino and Turn Blue, guitarist Dan Auerbach explained that the group took longer for their eighth album because they were "this-is-your-brain-on-drugs fried".

[23] During the recording of the album's nearly seven-minute opening song "Weight of Love", Auerbach was urged by Carney and Burton to continue playing the track's concluding guitar solo, despite his reservations that it would be self-indulgent.

The only change made to the running order was the addition of "Gotta Get Away" to the end; Carney had wanted "In Our Prime" to close the record, but Auerbach thought the song was too sad and preferred a catchy, upbeat track to conclude the album.

[22][26][30] After selecting the title, Patrick said the group began "referencing early '60s sci-fi, shows like The Outer Limits and Twilight Zone" for the art direction, due to Ghoulardi's association with the genre.

[31] The album's artwork was influenced by Carney's interest in mind control; the subject drew his attention after he feuded on Twitter with fans of pop star Justin Bieber.

Director Harmony Korine subsequently recommended Carney watch the 1985 film The Peanut Butter Solution, in which a teacher uses mind control on students to make them build paintbrushes.

[37] The group made their third appearance on American sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live three days prior to the album's release, performing "Fever" and "Bullet in the Brain".

[46] Andy Gill of The Independent gave the album five stars, saying it "employs much the same formula of catchy, hook-laden melodies harnessed to tank-tread riffs that made its predecessor so irresistible".

"[51] Bud Scoppa of Uncut gave the record four stars; contrasting his judgment of El Camino as a collection of "in-your-face, one-listen rockers", he called Turn Blue "largely midtempo, moody, lush in places, and deeply soulful".

[56] In a four-and-a-half-star review, David Fricke of Rolling Stone called Turn Blue the "best, most consistently gripping album the Keys have ever made".

In addition to praising Danger Mouse's production, Fricke was complimentary of the band for expanding its musical palette, saying the album is a "genuine turning point – into a decisively original rock, with a deeper shade of blues".

[55] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian rated the album four stars, saying that the Black Keys "have matured into a band capable of drawing all kinds of music into their own orbit" without "sound[ing] incoherent".

He believed that the interplay between Auerbach and Carney was unaffected by their musical aspirations and said "the result is polished and commercial, without feeling craven or compromised, an impressive stunt to pull off.

[52] Barry Nicolson of NME, scoring the album a six-out-of-ten, was critical of Danger Mouse's growing influence on the band, writing "there's a nagging sense that their collaboration – beneficial though it's been for all involved – has run its course".

Fitzmaurice said the music "sounds distant and subdued, a murky-sounding collection of '70s stoner-rock facsimiles and swirling gray tones that, for the most part, are indistinguishable".

[61] Turn Blue debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 164,000 copies in its first week to narrowly beat Michael Jackson's posthumously released Xscape; it was the Black Keys' first number-one album in the United States.

[67] All tracks are written by Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, and Brian Burton except where notedThe Black Keys[56] Additional performers[56] Production[22][56]