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Karen Elson Releases New Song, Says Former Rivals Jack White and the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney Are Now “Friends”

Over the years, Jack White and the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney have sniped at each other in various forms. White once accused Carney of ripping off his sound, because in a post-White Stripes world, “the Black Keys” is a pretty coincidental thing to name your two-piece blues rock band; he also bitched about the possibility of Carney’s bandmate, Dan Auerbach, sending his kids to the same private school as his. In 2014, Carney defended White from the gossiping eyes of TMZ. A year later, he said White tried to fight him.

The feud seemed to be resolved when Carney wrote (in a now-deleted tweet), “Talked to jack for an hour he’s cool. All good.” White, in response, released a statement through his Third Man Records: “From one musician to another, you have my respect Patrick Carney.” (Steven Hyden’s 2016 book, Your Band Is Killing Me, has a pretty succinct summary of the feud and its particulars.)

Making nice in public is one thing. But the feud is apparently done for real, according to White’s ex-wife Karen Elson. Today, Elson, who was married to White from 2005 to 2013, released “Distant Shore,” the first single from her upcoming album Double RosesDouble Roses features a fairly impressive list of collaborators: Father John Misty, Laura Marling, Dhani Harrison (son of George), Wilson’s Pat Sansone, Bright Eyes’ Nate Wolcott, Benmont Tench, Paul Cartwright … and Carney, who co-produced two songs.

It’s probable that the new album alludes to her marriage to White and the contentious divorce proceedings, as the press release stated it’s about “things she’d kept bottled up for years.”

But, hey, it seems like everyone’s fine with everyone. Earlier, Third Man tweeted out a link to our sister site Stereogum’s post about Elson’s new song. Elson also took the time to reply to a Consequence of Sound post that teased at the potential beef lying underneath the album. She wrote on Twitter: “it’s your friendly fact checker, no drama or anything close to what you’re writing about. These people are friends end of story.” If it’s truly the end of the story, it’s a nice ending to what once qualified as a blues rock feud.

The album is out April 7. Listen to the single below.