Jack White goes into beastmode in "Lazaretto"

Jack White grooves, burns rubber, explodes guitar in the stylish black-and-white new clip for "Lazaretto," the scorching first single and title track from White's new sophomore solo album, drops next week. The record takes its name from the quarantine stations built for maritime travelers between the 15th and 19th centuries. No modern rock star does eccentric as convincingly as Jack White and so he delivers exactly what is expected with his new clip, directed by French pair Jonas and François and features White shredding the song's riffs while surrounded by broken glass and flames.

"Lazaretto" is a hippity-hoppity garage cut - the closest White comes on this disc to evoking the thump and crunch those dang Black Keys sometimes get with the help of Danger Mouse. He delivers the lyrics in rap-attack mode, this time closer to the slam-poet style of Saul Williams. And while this aggressive approach as an instrumental element itself makes for the catchiest song in the collection, the hip-hop harp ultimately draws one's attention back to the lyrics. White's latest single, "Lazaretto," is full of chaotic groove, and now it's been paired with an equally insane music video.

Everybody knows White is a guitar god, but "Lazaretto" is dominated by the low-end. The Nashville rocker keeps finding new, old ways to start the adrenaline pumping. Early on in the clip, the multi-instrumentalist plugs in his bass and nestles into a funky riff, as psychedelic synth leads sparkle between heavy drum fills. White spends much of the video mugging for the camera, cranking out one an ear-busting guitar solo midway through. It is a work of postmodern art, hitting all the hallmarks of the genre: ironic, referential and highly staged. Those attributes, are a delight to watch.

The gravity-defying clip opens with a guitar pick flying through shards of shattered glass and the whiplash visuals only get more eye-popping from there. The b-shots give us a collection of outsiders, reflective of White's perceived image of himself. We get snakes, shattered glass, explosions, speeding cars, a raging bull bull and a tattoo of the Third Man Records boss himself. But as with the old-fashioned rock'n'roll and the country-twanged fiddle of the song itself, damned if those familiar pieces don't fit together into something exhilarating. The climax - a guitar shattering into a million pieces - is the true highlight.