After reuniting in 2011, Ben Folds Five hinted that a new album would be on the way shortly. Then, earlier this year, they suggested that the record would have a "spring release." Now that it's spring and there's no new album, Ben Folds himself took to the band's Facebook page and offered up an update.
In the lengthy post, which can be viewed in full here, Folds explained that the album was started in January, with the group beginning by recording hours of jam sessions and forming songs from those.
From there, the lyrics were written, and Folds explains that "loss of ego" is a common lyrical theme. He also listed some song titles from the release: "Being Frank," "Erase Me," "Do It Anyway," "Sky High" and "The Sound of the Life of the Mind," which features lyrics by Nick Hornby.
Best of all, Folds promised a song called "Draw a Crowd," which features the lyrics "If you can't draw a crowd / Draw dicks on the wall." Describing that song, Folds said, "It's partially silly and partially deep. Many will latch on to the silly part and give me shit for it and maybe when they grow up they're get the other part. If not, oh well. It's okay. I like Kesha songs and some people don't."
The album isn't finished yet, but the band plan to reconvene in June and finish in time for a tentative September release date. As for how it will be released, Folds said they want to avoid the standard release procedures, writing, "I want to avoid ass kissing. It's not healthy. I think we're going to pass on radio promo and on most advance press. No sending it out for reviews etc. We'll just let you know through Twitter and Facebook that it's coming out. That's the idea, and we'll see how that goes."
In the lengthy post, which can be viewed in full here, Folds explained that the album was started in January, with the group beginning by recording hours of jam sessions and forming songs from those.
From there, the lyrics were written, and Folds explains that "loss of ego" is a common lyrical theme. He also listed some song titles from the release: "Being Frank," "Erase Me," "Do It Anyway," "Sky High" and "The Sound of the Life of the Mind," which features lyrics by Nick Hornby.
Best of all, Folds promised a song called "Draw a Crowd," which features the lyrics "If you can't draw a crowd / Draw dicks on the wall." Describing that song, Folds said, "It's partially silly and partially deep. Many will latch on to the silly part and give me shit for it and maybe when they grow up they're get the other part. If not, oh well. It's okay. I like Kesha songs and some people don't."
The album isn't finished yet, but the band plan to reconvene in June and finish in time for a tentative September release date. As for how it will be released, Folds said they want to avoid the standard release procedures, writing, "I want to avoid ass kissing. It's not healthy. I think we're going to pass on radio promo and on most advance press. No sending it out for reviews etc. We'll just let you know through Twitter and Facebook that it's coming out. That's the idea, and we'll see how that goes."