Beck Aims to Keep Fans' "Idle Hands" Busy On New Album

For his new album, The Information, due out October 3rd, Beck has created a video for each song, which will be embedded with digital downloads of the tunes, and widely available for free on YouTube.com and elsewhere. It's part of the freak-folk forebearer's plan to help redefine the album for the digital age. "We're moving into time where the song and the imagery and video are all able to exist as one thing," he tells us. "It's not even technically an audio thing anymore, it's something else."

In addition, each physical copy of the album will come with a mostly blank cover and, inside, a sheet of stickers (each disc will have one of four possible sheets) so each owner can create his or her own album art. "We're giving people an assignment," Beck says. "It's something to do with their idle hands while they listen to music so they don't get into trouble, just doing our part."

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Song Stories

“Weird”

Hanson | 1997

Accomplished tunesmith Desmond Child co-wrote "Weird" with the three brothers that make up Hanson. Credited for dozens of cuts, including songs by Kiss, Cher, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, Child told Rolling Stone that "Weird" holds a special place in his heart, "because it's about being different--and I grew up poor, I grew up being Latin, I grew up being gay, and now I'm fat!" The song was included on Hanson's 1997 album Middle of Nowhere, which sold more than ten million units.

More Song Stories entries »

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