You wouldn’t necessarily think that Grammy winners Ray LaMontagne and Dan Auerbach would make a good pair, but I guess we’ll find out how well the two mix when Ray’s fifth album, Supernova, hits stores on May 6th.

Ray is absolutely one of my favorite singer/songwriters, and is one of a handful of artists whose music I would buy without hearing a single note beforehand. While certainly not a fan at the same level as I am Ray,  I also dig The Black Keys quite a bit. I’m just not 100% sure how they would sound together. Supernova is being described as having a looser feel (it was recorded in three weeks,) which could be good, as Ray definitely seems the brooding type. His looser moments to date-“Repo Man,” “Meg White,” etc.-have been pretty good, though. So…who the hell knows? Given his track record, though, expectations are high!

Also, weird to see photos of Ray and Dan working together and Ray is missing his trademark super-beard. Who knew what lurked under there?

Anyhow, there’s no music circulating yet, so the jury’s out as far as what this collaboration will sound like, but I’m hoping for good things! Trust me, almost as soon as I hear anything, you’ll be able to read about it on this site!

Here’s Ray performing “Repo Man” a couple years back.