FUSE TV - Exclusive: Ben Folds Five Premiere "The Sound of the Life of the Mind"

It's been 13 years since Ben Folds Five released their last studio album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. They split in 2000 and reformed in 2011 to record three new songs for The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective, but now, Fuse is amped to bring you the exclusive world premiere of "The Sound of the Life of the Mind," the debut single from the band's upcoming album of the same name, out September 18 via ImaVeePee Records/Sony.

Lyrically, Folds has repeatedly written about dreamers trapped in small-town ennui and their aspirations to escape it, and he revisits that on "The Sound of the Life of the Mind." We hear stories of drinking Cherry Cola and scotch while hanging out at the mall and learning about "Rosa Parks and DNA/Joan of Arc and JFK" in school. “She doesn’t want to hear about the pregnancies, foam fights… weddings," sings Folds. "The sound of the life she’ll leave behind.”

In June, we caught up with the group at Bonnaroo, who revealed that their new album is more upbeat than their previous efforts and, to quote drummer Darren Jessee, "a real good piano-rock record." A portion of the funds from album sales will be used to support Music Education and Music Therapy, a charity personally chosen by the band.

Ben Folds Five played a few reunion shows earlier this year, but will dive into the touring circuit full-on with a 24-date trek of the U.S., England and Australia set to begin this Thursday in Hoyloke, Mass. We're just hoping the new record and tour will take Folds' mind off that missed dinner with Fidel Castro. Listen to the track below.