Tagged: Ben Folds

Three albums into a thriving career, Ben Folds Five abruptly announced it was over in 2000. Luckily for fans, Folds got the band back together 11 years later and even released a new album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind, this September.

The album is classic Ben Folds Five — at times irreverent, cerebral, quirky, wistful and playful. The Sound of the Life of the Mind peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and the video for the first single, "Do It Anyway," features Anna Kendrick, Rob Corddry and the cast of Fraggle Rock.

The sweaters are out, TV shows have resumed and actual referees are back on the field. The best music writing this week came to play, too, and had us feeling emotions. Dry news reports these aren't, revealing as they do the heady anticipation in front of a promising young musician, the craggy swirl of familial relationships and the rocky road of fandom.

Get ready for Monday with these three stories.

In the early '90s, Ben Folds Five achieved underground success by playing the college circuit, selling out small clubs all across the country.

That all changed with the success of its 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen. Its hit single "Brick" went to No. 6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks list, only the second single in the band's history to chart.