Unlike U2, Ben Folds likes album leaks…

By Alex Young on August 19th, 2008

In case you missed this weekend’s news of U2’s inadvertent leak of No Line On The Horizon, here is a recap: A curious French passer-by happened to catch and record Bono blasting the band’s upcoming twelfth studio effort from his $10,000 speaker system.

Ok, so we made the last part up, but then again, it is Bono…

While U2 may not be much a fan of album leaks these days, Ben Folds certainly is. Well, at least when it comes to fake leaks.

Singer-songwriter Ben Folds responded to the inevitable leak of his forthcoming album Way To Normal in a unique way: he leaked it himself. Only the songs weren’t real — he spent eight hours recording “fake” versions of six tracks during a late-night Dublin, Ireland session in early July, then let friends work their magic on the Web.

While both “Hiroshima” and the sounds of Regina Spektor and “You Don’t Know Me” (see below) are indeed real, those who dabbled in the full album “leak” of the Fold’s third solo album, probably didn’t get the real McCoy.

The self-leak idea came during an early July flight to Europe with drummer Sam Smith and bassist Jared Reynolds (the trio were traveling as part of a year-long tour that includes 15 dates in the fall; Way To Normal hits stores September 30th). Folds says the group rented studio time with nine joke songs in eight hours as the goal. They finished six at the pace of Sixties studio musicians and had a blast.

Unless Mr. Folds pulls some more shenanigans, you should be able to get the real thing once it officially hits music shelves on September 30 via Epic Records.

Ben Folds 2008 Tour Dates:
09/06 - Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center
09/07 - Nashville, TN @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center
09/24 - Washington, DC @ Constitution Hall
09/26 - Boston, MA @ Orpheum
09/30 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/01 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/03 - Ft. Wayne, FL @ Embassy Theatre
10/04 - Louisville, KY @ Kentucky Center
10/09 - Detroit, MI @ State Theatre
10/10 - Chicago, IL @ Congress
10/16 - St. Louis, MO @ Pagent
10/17 - Minneapolis, MN @ Myth
10/22 - Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre
10/23 - Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom
10/24 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
10/25 - Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
11/13 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
11/14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theater