Duncan Sheik – “Birmingham” (audio) (premiere)

Singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik will be releasing his eighth album Legerdemain this fall, and in the wake of the release of the contemplative singles “Photograph” and “Circling” he’s now put out the vibrant track “Birmingham”, which you can hear below. melding folk and blues influences with a sprightly electronic groove, it’s a great little change of pace from the acoustic-based tracks, an injection of modern sounding yet old-fashioned soul into an already soulful record.

“I wrote Birmingham while on tour with Suzanne Vega summer of 2010,” he says. “I was re-reading an Irvine Welsh novel and imagined myself as a petty criminal from Scotland who had headed down south to fleece the the Birmingham natives of their cash in some kind of con game. That’s actually a pretty good analogy for being a musician on tour — especially true if you’re having a good time and getting into trouble.”

Legerdemain comes out 9 October on Kobalt, which you can pre-order via iTunes and Amazon.

Sheik’s a busy fellow this fall. He has two Broadway productions opening: his musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho and the return of 2007 Tony Award winner Spring Awakening, for which he wrote the orchestration. And if that wasn’t enough, he’ll be on tour in November, co-headlining with Suzanne Vega on select dates.

November 5 & 6 Berkeley, CA /// Freight & Salvage*

November 7 Beverly Hills, CA /// Saban Theater*

November 8 San Juan Capistrano, CA /// The Coach House*

November 13 Evanston, IL /// Evanston SPACE*

November 14 Brookfield, WI /// Sharon Lynne Wilson Ctr. For Arts*

November 15 Minneapolis, MN /// The Cedar*

November 18 & 19 Vienna, VA /// The Barns at Wolf Trap*

November 20 Richmond, VA /// Modlin Center for the Arts*

November 21 New York, NY /// Zankel at Carnegie Hall

November 22 Tarrytown, NY /// The Tarrytown Music Hall*

*co-headlining with Suzanne Vega