Ben Folds has never been one for convention and he's taking another left turn with his next album. The just-announced So There, set for release in September, will feature eight chamber pop songs arranged and recorded with New York City's yMusic Ensemble and a 21-minute piano concerto performed with the Nashville Symphony. Listen to the first single, "Capable of Anything," below.

"I don't recall ever being quite so excited about an album I'm making," Folds said in a press release. "I'll let you decide if that's a good thing or not. It's just that we don't often get to make a record that we've never heard before. The arrangements you will hear on this record are straight up rock – not ornamentation. The odd instrumentation – piano, cello, viola, violin, flute/piccolo/alto flute, trumpet/French horn, and clarinet/bass clarinet, with no bass and more often than not, no drums – is yielding something that I can't wait to release. It's a pop record, if that's what you call what I write."

Check out the cover art:

New West Records
New West Records
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Folds spent much of past year performing the piano concerto (commissioned by the Nashville Ballet, the Nashville Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra) with some of the most famous symphony orchestras on the planet, but he also yearned to return to playing within a more intimate band setting. He and yMusic have been touring throughout the spring and are set to appear at Bonnaroo later this month.

So There will be released Sept. 11 via New West Records.

Ben Folds – "Capable of Anything"

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