FUSE TV - Beck Confirms New Acoustic Album & Unplugged Summer Gigs

Good news for Beck fans: After a few years off from the album release cycle slog, the Los Angeles singer-songwriter is amid a very, very productive period. Just months after the release of his convention-bucking book of sheet music, Beck Hansen Song Reader, the Los Angeles boho singer-songwriter has confirmed that an acoustic album is on the way soon, and that he'll road test new material this summer. Yesssssssss.

A statement from his reps confirms that Beck's gigs will "feature never before heard material from an upcoming acoustic record." The statement adds that "the record can best be described as a self-contained work, one that came in the form of a burst of inspiration" after he finished Song Reader. 

Wait... just how many albums does Beck have in the works? Late last year he said that yet another LP, which he started recording back in 2008, would be soon released in a "standard format." But judging by the statement, which explains that Beck started the forthcoming acoustic LP after finishing Song Reader (which dropped in December), it appears fans do in fact have many albums to look forward to.

Only seven gigs are scheduled so far, but highlights include his appearance at Newport Folk Festival and a special guest spot on the Americanarama Tour in Jones Beach, NY. That means Beck will join Bob Dylan, My Morning Jacket and Wilco. That's worth an arm and a leg. (Also, dare I ask, but with Beck and MMJ frontman Jim James on the bill at Newport, in the middle of the Americanarama tour, is it feasible they'd drag ol' Bobby D. onstage for his grand return to Newport, where he went electric in 1965? We can dream...)

Beck made his name as a indie-disco-anti-folk all-star, but he's no stranger to country-acoustic ballads. His 2002 release, Sea Change, is widely considered one of his best, and one of his most recent tracks, "Looking for a Sign" from the Jeff, Who Lives at Home soundtrack, is a gorgeous, striped-down ditty—Beck at his acoustic best. Listen to that track, plus Sea Change gem "Golden Age," below.

See the full itinerary below; Beck will bring his electric band on select gigs.

5/19, Santa Cruz, CA (Rio Theater)
5/20, San Francisco, CA (Song Reader event at Davies Symphony Hall)
7/2, Paris, France (Days Off Festival at Cité de la Musique)
7/27, Wantagh, NY (Americanarama at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater 
7/28, Newport, RI (Newport Folk Festival / special acoustic set) 
8/2, Boston, MA (Bank of America Pavilion / full band) 
8/4, Brooklyn, NY (Celebrate Brooklyn at Prospect Park / full band)