Song premiere: Capable of Anything

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/06/05/411984091/song-premiere-ben-folds-and-ymusic-capable-of-anything

First glimpse at the new album, out September 11

Really diggin' it.  

This was the one song I loved hearing when I saw yMusic and Ben last month.

EDIT: I downloaded the song directly from NPR's stream (you can search online how to do it).  I'll post it if it's alright with Andy/the mod team.

stereogum post has the album cover: http://www.stereogum.com/1806500/ben-folds-and-ymusic-capable-of-anything/mp3s/

love the song. the cover? nooooot so much

Great tune!

Very cool song. I'm still getting used to it. It doesn't catch on really fast, not like You Don't Know Me or something like that, but I assume this is going to be a record of growers.

That album art though, blehh. I like it in some ways, but it doesn't do justice for Ben's looks, i'll just say that.

It definitely caught me off guard at first. Initially, it sounds like a lot of noise.  ("Erase Me" was sort of similar on TSOTLOTM with its loud beginning.) By the latter half of the song, I was roped in.  Listened to it repeatedly today.  It's catchy once you get acclimated.

I really hope this album finds an audience. I love that Ben tries to keep things fresh constantly. Even though its always his songs at the core, he likes to collaborate and keep things unique, whether it be with Nick Hornby, Robert and Darren, or in this case, yMusic. I feel that its unfair that his records get more attention when "Ben Folds" or "Ben Folds Five" are the credited act. Lonely Avenue was great, and it was so overlooked.

Awesome song, but this has been bugging the hell out of me:  The melody of the vocal line during parts of the verse is extremely reminiscent of another song from Ben's catalog, but I can't quite place it and it's driving me nuts.  It's when he sings "They sing it like a pop song" and "Or you could just forgive me."  It's extremely distracting to listen to until I can figure out where else I've heard that little melody.  Can anybody lend a hand?

And yeah, that album art is horrendous.  Yeesh.

Funny, I've been racking my brain trying to figure what Phone in a Pool reminds me of.  The chord progression reminds me a little of the main riff in Draw a Crowd and the flute line at the end reminds me of the whistle solo from Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay.  But neither of those are really what I'm trying to think of though.  I feel like there was some pop song from the mid-90s that it sounds just like - especially the beginning when it's just Ben and the piano - but for the life I me I can't place it.  Maybe I'm just misremembering my youth. 

When I first heard this song live (and even still a little on the recording) I was positive it was his cover of "Such Great Heights" before the lyrics came in.

When I first heard this song live (and even still a little on the recording) I was positive it was his cover of "Such Great Heights" before the lyrics came in.

Oh good. Now I can't unhear it.

Uh-oh, that never occurred to me either.  I'm gonna have to wait a while to listen to it again now so I can forget about that before doing so, haha.

And the answer to my own question came to me yesterday:  It's the last pre-chorus of 'Because The Origami," actually sung by Amanda Palmer after the dual-lead.

Quote from: fireworksordie on June 09, 2015, 07:33:04 PM

When I first heard this song live (and even still a little on the recording) I was positive it was his cover of "Such Great Heights" before the lyrics came in.

Oh good. Now I can't unhear it.

When I played it for one of my friend's, he thought it was going to be a cover of Such Great Heights as well.

I recall I leaned over to Fairbanks at the Church gig and said "this sounds uncannily like the "Such Great Heights" cover. I hear it every time.

This is a really interesting song lyrically, how he deconstructs this platitude that we're capable of anything. He points out that the people who tell us this aren't exactly doing great things themselves, and also that we forget "anything" includes all the horrible shit we're capable of doing. All while mixing in some of his personal stuff. Really strong.