Alicia Keys and Jack White: "Another Way To Die"

It’s fitting that with this newest Bond re-vamp along must also come a gussied “new hot acts of the noughties” Bond theme; hence, world, Jack White and Alica Keys. As per the new Bond ethos, they have a raw, bluesy affair here. The most obvious White watermark is the sound of the guitar and drums. While the axe grinds with garage grit, the drums have a reverb punch that’s dirtier than Bond themes of the past. As anyone who has seen either Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace understands, Daniel Craig is also a dirtier Bond than we’ve seen in the past. The one-sheets and reviews vaunt that no longer is Bond infallible, that he doesn’t get over the deaths of friends and lovers with a witticism and a martini, who isn’t always the master of every situation. The tension and lack of overwhelming studio polish on “Another Way To Die” fit this new Bond to a T. Even the orchestra, while present, is surprisingly scaled back.

I was skeptical at first of a duet between Alicia Keys and Jack White; two singers of very different schools. Together on “Another Way To Die,” however, Keys and White are possessed of the love-hate, sex-and-violence tension that new Bond has with his female partners. Bond themes have traditionally either been epic songs sung by men, or sultry lounge pieces sung by women. It’s novel to hear gender tension in a Bond theme, but then again, it’s also novel to have as much continuity and human emotion as Quantum of Solace displays. Like the latest Bond restart, “Another Way To Die” is neither better nor worse than its past predecessors, just different, and titillating for that.