Whoa, man. What is with this harsh, ugly, cold, digital, online announcement I just read regarding the release of Jack White’s newest solo album (and follow-up to 2012’s pretty cool Blunderbuss) that’s coming out in June for his Third Man Records label? I don’t know about y’all, but when an analog purist like White announces a new record, I expect to find out about it via a beautifully hand-silkscreened and individually numbered print that gets hand-delivered to my mailbox by a uniformed employee of Third Man, if not White himself. But alas, apparently that’s a little too much to ask? Am I missing something here?
Anyway, the album is called Lazaretto (which I think is either some sort of car or a shoe), and it’s due on June 9/10 in all of its analog glory. Of course, since June is still a long way off, White will also be releasing the title track “later this month” as the first official single.
Speaking of analog glory, there’s also a pretty insanely ambitious Vault package available that includes all kinds of exclusive stuff, such as split-color vinyl, exclusive artwork, several 7-inches of album demos, a “lavish 40-page hard bound companion piece book full of lyrics, exclusive musical notations, photos and art” and even a “linen, letter-pressed postcard with the same eye-popping color separations as evidenced in classic chromatic postcards popular in the first half of the 20th century.” Honestly, it’s kind of a lot of stuff. You can read all of the crisp, warm, high-end details over at White’s website if you want. Just know that subscriptions are only open through April 30 and that, again, you’re kinda being encouraged to use a computer, which is bullshit.
And finally, if even “later this month” sounds interminably far off to you to hear a new Jack White single, you can also “experience a first taste of new music from the album and watch the video for new instrumental track ‘High Ball Stepper’” in all its crude… digital-iousness down below. Yick. No thank you.
• Jack White: http://jackwhiteiii.com
• Third Man: http://thirdmanrecords.com
More about: Jack White
