De Stijl () is the second studio album by the American rock duo the White Stripes, independently released by the label Sympathy for the Record Industry on June 20, 2000. It was conceived before band members Jack White and Meg White divorced, who nonetheless continued working together and presented themselves as siblings. Produced by Jack and recorded on an 8-track analog tape in their living room, the album takes inspiration from the art movement of the same name and features the band's early blues-inspired sound.
De Stijl sold moderately upon release but received generally positive reviews from critics. The album has gained renewed attention and peaked at 38 on Billboard'''s Independent Albums chart in 2002. It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and included on NME's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2013.
Background and recording
The White Stripes band members Jack and Meg divorced in March 2000, however, Meg insisted that they continue working together. Despite their divorce, they continued living together. De Stijl was recorded in their living room, which was an environment that was more "comfortable" for them without "studio influence", exclusively using a Tascam 8-track analog tape machine and "broken, pieces of junk" Shure SM58 microphones. The album was recorded at home in part to save money on studio costs and not to replicate the eponymous debut album. Jack later considered recording De Stijl at home a mistake, due to the distractions of domestic life, and preferred the recording conditions of the subsequent albums, White Blood Cells (2001) and Elephant (2003). Songs were recorded sporadically and when they had time, resulting in a months-long process. In spite of it all, he acknowledges its homemade, self-produced recording made it a fan favorite, though he doesn't know what "sounded so great to them." He also acknowledged that home provided "total freedom" for the White Stripes and a space in which songs like the album's ninth track, "A Boy's Best Friend", could be created. Jack overdubbed the piano and acoustic guitar on the album in an attempt to experiment with the differences between live performance and the studio recording, as people assumed he wasn't capable of playing piano songs live, though in hindsight he was dissatisfied with it and believes it was "too much."De Stijl takes its name from the De Stijl ("the style" in English) art movement, which included the painter Piet Mondrian.Eliscu, Jenny (February 15, 2001) "THE WHITE STRIPES". Rolling Stone. 862:65 Jack had been an admirer of the style for some time, especially of furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld, who designed the Rietveld Schröder House which the band had visited. Jack stated, "I thought we'd call the album De Stijl because it broke the art form down to its simplest parts [...]. It was a question of how simple should The White Stripes be, what's out of bounds for us, and what are we supposed to be doing with this band?" In addition to his love for the art movement, Jack felt the title did not apply to either their debut album or White Blood Cells because of the way they approached the recording. The title was also inspired by Love's second album Da Capo (1966). William S. Burroughs's experimental album Break Through in Grey Room (1986) was a reference point for creating an album with the barest minimum of resources. Jack later sampled part of it on one of his solo albums, Fear of the Dawn (2022). He also used Lead Belly as inspiration, who primarily performed only with acoustic guitar and vocals.
Its cover art sets Jack and Meg against an abstract background of rectangles and lines in red, black and white, and utilizes common elements from the aesthetics of its namesake. Meg has said she disliked her outfit on the cover and "[didn't] know what [she] was thinking" by wearing it, finding subsequent ones better. De Stijl was dedicated to both Rietveld and Blind Willie McTell. Mixing was done at Ghetto Recorders by Jack and Jim Diamond, and the album would be completed in spring 2000.
Music and lyrics De Stijl features the band's early blues-inspired sound, which was prominent on their self-titled debut album. Tom Breihan of Stereogum said the album showcased delta blues, hard and psychedelic rock influences, and Lizzy Goodman of NPR similarly noted its "camp" blues sound.
On February 5, 2008, Canadian media reported that former Radio-Canada host Dominique Payette filed a lawsuit against the White Stripes for using a nine-second clip of her interview with a little girl at the beginning of "Jumble, Jumble". She demanded $70,000 in damages and the removal of the album from store shelves. The dispute was settled out of court.
Songs
"You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)", a bubblegum pop song, was inspired by the songwriting process of Michael Jackson, and came about spontaneously while Jack was driving one day; he finished the song when he got home by adding the melody, guitar, and drums.
"Hello Operator" was the only single on the album,. The song was promoted by influential British radio DJ John Peel, despite not having been released in the United Kingdom at the time. Peel owned his own copy, having purchased it a record store in the Netherlands. Like "The Big Three Killed My Baby" critiqued the auto industry, "Hello Operator" was written in critique of phone companies that rip people off. The song's B-side, a cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene", was released in 2004 via its live recording at a concert in Blackpool, England, and reached number one on the UK independent music chart. Parton appreciates their rendition among others. As a solo performer, Jack considers the cover exclusively a White Stripes staple and "wouldn't bother touching it again."
The album's third track, "Little Bird" was heavily inspired by Led Zeppelin.: "When we recorded that song, Jack told The Detroit News in March 2001, "We both said, 'People are going to say this sounds like Zeppelin.' But I loved that riff so much, we just had to put it on the record." It was created out of Jack's love for performing slide guitar.
"Apple Blossom" debuted on a local Detroit Public Television segment called Backstage Pass and appeared in the Quentin Tarantino film The Hateful Eight (2015).
"I'm Bound to Pack It Up" is a country song depicting a break-up in which the narrator moves out of the home. The studio version of song does not feature Meg's drums.
"Death Letter" is a cover of song by Son House, an artist whom Jack considers to be his idol. House's family earned significant royalty checks and personally thanked him for covering the song. During the recording of the song, a drunken man wandered into the home because he heard them playing and interrupted them, petrifying Meg. It was one of the top three most performed songs by The White Stripes during their career, and was performed at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Sister, Do You Know My Name?" and "A Boy's Best Friend" were two songs that Jack particularly liked on the album, but were rarely performed live due to their slow-burning nature ("A Boy's Best Friend" was possibly never performed live). He deemed the latter "almost too sad, too quiet, [and] too slow," but an emotional progression from the debut album. They are about the fantasy of having a close-knit group of friends to spend time with as he struggled to make friends as a child. "Sister, Do You Know My Name?" was used as background music during a scene in the band's documentary Under Great White Northern Lights (2009). Both songs contain slide guitar work.
"Truth Doesn't Make a Noise" was written 1999, and was based on a phrase that kept running through his mind. The theme would also go on to inspire Jack's 2024 solo album No Name.
"Let's Build a Home" features a recording of Jack as a child in the intro reciting a nursery rhyme for his mother and one of his brothers. The song was performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2003. Live performances frequently interpolated "Goin' Back to Memphis" by Henry and June.
"Jumble, Jumble"'s intro contains audio of Canadian radio host Dominique Payette speaking to a child talking about "the first time" (within the context of human sexuality). Payette found this to be a violation of the child's privacy under Québec laws and sued the band. They settled out of court.
The song "Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?" appeared on The Simpsons in 2010, used in the episode "Judge Me Tender". It was one of the first songs they ever performed, in August 1997, a month after their formation.
"Your Southern Can Is Mine", a cover of a song by Blind Willie McTell, recounts relentless domestic violence against the narrator's partner; Jack perceived the meaning of the title in various ways and dedicated the album to McTell, albeit he still condemned the themes of violence against women. The song was chosen to cover instead of "sweet heartbreak number." Meg sings background vocals on the chorus and it was the first time she sang on a White Stripes track, which was "fun" for them. The song was performed on their first ever American national television appearance (The Late Late Show in 2001) and on Radio New Zealand during the band's first international tour, among other occasions.
Release and reception De Stijl was released on June 20, 2000, through the Sympathy for the Record Industry label. A re-issued vinyl LP version of the record was pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville, Tennessee and mastered all-analog from the original master tapes. The album was re-issued again for its 20th anniversary.De Stijl earned positive reviews from critics, who noted its simplicity, and fusion of blues and "scuzzy garage rock." Heather Phares of AllMusic said that "As distinctive as it is diverse, De Stijl blends the Stripes' arty leanings with enough rock muscle to back up the band's ambitions." William Bowers of Pitchfork wrote that the album "contained thunderous, honky-soulful, lacerating pop at various stages of evolution." Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone had seen The White Stripes open for Sleater-Kinney and asked the magazine to write a review of De Stijl. In her review, she called it "feisty and clever" and praised the drumming, guitar and vocal performances, stating that "like everything about the White Stripes, [De Stijl] proves that you don't need bombast to make a blues explosion." She later added them to the magazine's "10 Bands to Watch in 2001" article which contributed to a bidding war by major labels. Ann Powers of the New York Times described the album as "what many hip rock fans consider real music."De Stijl was a sleeper hit, earning a following after the White Stripes began to grow popular outside of Detroit and reaching number 38 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart in 2002. It has since been considered a cult classic. NME included it on their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list in 2013. The media's response strongly influenced the direction of White Blood Cells, leading Jack to move away from creating blues music on that album.
De Stijl tour