Help Us Stranger
Help Us Stranger is the third studio album by American rock band The Raconteurs. It was released on June 21, 2019, through Third Man Records, their first studio album in 11 years following Consolers of the Lonely (2008). The album was recorded at Third Man Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, and mixed at Blackbird Studios in Nashville. It was produced by the band, engineered by Joshua V. Smith, and mixed by Vance Powell.[3]
Help Us Stranger
June 21, 2019
June 2018 – January 2019
Third Man, Nashville
41:14
The Raconteurs
Promotion and release[edit]
On the tenth anniversary of the band's second studio album, Consolers of the Lonely released in 2008, Third Man announced a re-issue of the album, along with two previously unreleased songs, "Sunday Driver" and "Now That You're Gone" were released as double A-side singles.[4] Both songs received videos, which were shot a week before the release.[5] On April 2, 2019, the album artwork, along with its track listing and release date were announced. On April 10, "Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)", a cover of the Donovan song, premiered on Bandcamp.[6] Two days later, it was also made available on other platforms. On September 5, 2019, the band performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and performed the single "Only Child", as well as "Shine the Light on Me".[7][8]
A limited edition LP release with lenticular cover art was sent out to Third Man Vault subscribers. This edition features a parodic photoshop of the original "butcher" cover for the Beatles' 1966 studio album Yesterday and Today, in which the Raconteurs' heads are pasted atop John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr; the artwork is hidden beneath the lenticular print, mirroring Capitol Records' method of censoring the "butcher" cover, thus requiring buyers to peel it off in order to reveal the image.[9]
Commercial performance[edit]
Help Us Stranger debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 88,000 album-equivalent units, of which 84,000 were pure album sales. It was The Raconteurs' first US number-one album.[22] It has also charted in the top ten in Canada, UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders region).