Stranger Than Fiction

It’s been more than a decade since fans last heard from The Raconteurs (they didn’t break up, they were just busy). Jack White, 43, and Brendan Benson, 48, weigh in on how their odd partnership led to the band’s fierce new album.

- Katherine Turman

THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS (in)famous pairings throughout music history: Mick and Keith. Sonny and Cher. Metallica and Lou Reed. So how to characterize Jack White and Brendan Benson, lead songwriters of the modern garage-rock quartet the Raconteurs? Well, according to White, they might just be the oddest of the bunch. “We really inspire each other, but we both think each other is the strongest person,” says the former White Stripes frontman. “Brendan says to me, ‘You are just the weirdest guy I know.’ It’s so funny. Every time he says that I wanna say it back to him, but I don’t wanna argue with him! Most of the people I’ve loved and admired— mentors I’ve had—are people I’ve found to be odd. Not at first glance, but maybe as time goes on. I find an appeal to their eccentricities.”