Defriended

Five years after 2008's Modern Guilt, Beck is finally back with new, original recorded material. His new spaced-out electro ballad, "Defriended," leaked a few days ago, and an official version just hit the web (hear the song below). And he's not stopping there: a music industry source close to Beck reveals he is working on two new albums – a previously announced acoustic album, plus another album that the source describes as the proper follow-up to Modern Guilt. "Defriended" won't appear on either album. Fans can expect at least one more standalone single this summer, ahead of the LPs. (After years on Universal Music, Beck will release both albums independently.) The source described the acoustic album, set for release this fall, as a small-bore, self-contained work along the lines of 1994's One Foot in the Grave. "I have a bunch of songs I recorded about four years ago that I'm hopefully going to try to finish," Beck told Rolling Stone late last year. "I'm not sure if it's relevant anymore."