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. “I may be on crack, but I think if that was half the real record, it’d be good,” he tells Rolling Stone. “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.” For the full story behind Folds’ leak and a track-by-track comparison of the real deal and the goofy demos, click below.

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

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