It's a mix of tried-and-true names along with some relative unknowns on the music version of Beck's “Song Reader.” Jack White, Jack Black, Jeff Tweedy, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Laura Marling, fun., Juanes, David Johansen and more made the cut as collaborators on the forthcoming album.
The songwriter has seen a surge of activity lately since releasing his critically acclaimed new album “Morning Phase” this year, and he's now circled back on what what was originally a sheet-music-only 20-song project.
“Song Reader” is officially being dubbed a compilation by Warby Parker/Capitol, who will release the set on July 29. The eyewear manufacture worked with the songwriter previously on making special edition frames, and now the two together with donate proceeds from the album's sale to the non-profit 826 National, an young creative writers' institution. Warby Parker was also the sponsor behind limited engagements where “Song Reader” compositions were performed in L.A. and London, with performers that included Cocker, Childish Gambino, Black, Jenny Lewis, Van Dyk Parks, John C. Reilly and more.
“Like a kid getting a special package in the mail and opening it up with anticipation, these interpretations of songs from the Song Reader book have surpassed what I could have imagined when putting the book together. The book addressed the idea of a song in its most elemental form, letting others give it a voice,” Beck said in a statement. “It amazes me to hear how these musicians have made the songs their own and in the process revealed that the interpretation is the living breathing soul of the piece. These interpretations have made the book something new— something better.”
Here is the tracklist for “Song Reader”:
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 & yMusic – Mutilation Rag