Why I Leaked It: Ben Folds Comes Clean About His Fake (And Real) New Album, "Way To Normal"

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.

"You see so many rock bands in the studio and it's serious, serious business," the 42-year-old singer-pianist tells Rolling Stone. "They got the making-of camera up their ass the whole time and they're on the BlackBerry the other half of the time. I just think that we all need to remember how to have fun."

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.

"The word 'fake' came up when we started doing it and it takes all the responsibility out," he explains. "You can just be free to write and let it go." Some of the session went a little too well, though. Folds really likes "Bitch Went Nutz" — a song told from the narrative perspective of an ignorant ex-boyfriend — and is now hosting it on his MySpace page.

"They sound like roughs because they haven't been worked over and ruined like everything else that gets released these days," Folds says. "I figured a lot of people would get it and a lot of people wouldn't, but that's the way it is with my music in general."

Folds' friends leaked the six tracks in late July, bundling them with real singles "Hiroshima," "You Don't Know Me" featuring Regina Spektor, and a piano-and-orchestra version of real song "Cologne." A week went by without a response. "Fan sites would delete it," he says, explaining Webmasters were afraid of being sued. If people must scrutinize new Folds files for authenticity, Folds says, "I'd be happy with that.

"I may be on crack, but I think if that was half the real record, it'd be good," he adds. "Everyone I know keeps wanting to put it in and play it. We're all not honest these days about the way we listen to music. It all has to have context. I think some people hate it because they were told it was a joke. In the end people got free songs and we had something to do on July 11."

Keep reading for Folds' track-by-track comparisons of the leaked and real songs from Way To Normal.