Black Keys Frontman Releases Song Inspired by ‘Making a Murderer’

Like Serial and The Jinx before it, the new true-crime Netflix series Making a Murderer has inspired obsessive research, analysis and discussion from viewers, along with genuine news developments about the case of exonerated killer Steven Avery.

Among those fans is The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach. Four months after releasing his first album with side-project The Arcs, Auerbach has dropped a new song online that he says was inspired by the show.

“Last week, we got a sneak peek at what goes on behind the curtains of our criminal justice system,” the band wrote on its Facebook page Thursday. “A few sleepless nights later we gathered in the studio and wrote this song.” The whole thing was written, recorded, mixed, and mastered in just two days.

The song, titled “Lake Superior,” begins with a slow groove and adds some eerie synthesized sounds on top of Auerbach’s distorted vocal track. The lyrics name-check Avery and feature lines such as “To stand accused / is to admit you lose” and “Your alibi, will never do / When the whole town’s got it out for you.”

In addition to streaming on Soundcloud, The Arcs are making the song available for purchase, with proceeds going to the Innocence Project, which is “dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.”

The Wisconsin chapter of that organization helped exonerate Avery from prison after he had served 18 years for a rape he didn’t commit. Just four years later, he was convicted for murder.