Ben Folds is back with his newest solo effort, and fans of his older work with Ben Folds Five are gonna eat this album up. It's titled Way To Normal, but by no yardstick on Earth would I ever measure it up as normal. In it, Folds returns to the earnest sounding zaniness that we all know and love, sung over that classic Ben Folds piano. At points, it takes me back to Naked Baby Photos, one of my favorite albums from him. I mean, the opening track's titled Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head). Then you've got Bitch Went Nuts, the classic break-up song spun as only Ben could. And who wouldn't want to visit Effington? (read it out loud to catch it)

Also of interest is a partnership Ben has entered into with Apple. Here's part of the press release on it:

"During Folds' current U.S. tour, iTunes is introducing a new program called 'The Sounds of Last Night...This Morning,' for which one live track is being recorded in each of 10 cities and made available the next day exclusively on the iTunes Store. Tracks are recorded to a Mac, previewed on an iPod, original cover art is made by Folds with Apple's Photo Booth application and sent to iTunes for sale the next day. Following the conclusion of the tour the tracks will be compiled for an exclusive iTunes live album. Fans may purchase the album at a reduced price based on the songs they've already bought via iTunes' Complete My Album feature."

Not as exciting as if you could get the entire exact show you saw the night before as some bands have taken to, but fairly cool never-the-less.

Check out the fourth track from the album, You Don't Know Me, which features Regina Spektor accompanying Ben on vocals. You can also watch the video.