While celebrating his 44th birthday, Beck decided to give his fans a gift — the long-awaited studio version of his Song Reader album, which he previously released only as sheet music. While plenty of musicians, including the Portland Cello Project, have put out their interpretations of the tracks, this LP will feature a star-studded crew that includes Jack White, Jeff Tweedy, Jarvis Cocker, Eleanor Friedberger, Laura Marling, fun., Sparks (!), and even Jack Black, among many others. (Let’s not forget Moses Sumney, Lord Huron, and real motherfucking doggfather Swamp Dogg.) Beck himself only appears on one song, the lullaby-like “Heaven’s Ladder,” which you can see him perform below courtesy of Consequence of Sound. The album is due out July 29 via Capitol, presented by Warby Parker, and is available for pre-order now. Meantime, check out the full track list and marvel at all the big names.
Song Reader track list:
1. Moses Sumney – “Title of This Song”
2. fun. – “Please Leave A Light On When You Go”
3. Tweedy – “The Wolf Is On The Hill”
4. Norah Jones – “Just Noise”
5. Lord Huron – “Last Night You Were A Dream”
6. Bob Forrest – “Saint Dude”
7. Jack White – “I’m Down”
8. Beck – “Heaven’s Ladder”
9. Juanes – “Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard”
10. Laura Marling – “Sorry”
11. Jarvis Cocker – “Eyes That Say ’I Love You’”
12. David Johansen – “Rough On Rats”
13. Jason Isbell – “Now That Your Dollar Bills Have Sprouted Wings”
14. The Last Polka – “Marc Ribot”
15. Eleanor Friedberger – “Old Shanghai”
16. Sparks – “Why Did You Make Me Care?”
17. Swamp Dogg – “America, Here’s My Boy”
18. Jack Black – “We All Wear Cloaks”
19. Loudon Wainwright III – “Do We? We Do”
20. Gabriel Kahane with Ymusic – “Mutilation Rag”
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