Jack White surprise releases new album in Third Man shops, encourages fans to share it

Jack White has surprise released a new solo album by slipping it into the bags of customers at Third Man Records, and is now encouraging fans to share it online.

On Friday (July 19), the former White Stripes frontman appears to have decided to give select music fans a surprise by having vinyl copies of his mystery new record added to their purchases at the London, Nashville and Detroit locations of his string of record stores.

The record sleeve carries no information about its contents, simply reading ‘No Name’ on the label. Rolling Stone report that White’s publicist said he was “as surprised as everyone else” about the release.

Third Man Records later included an image of the record on their Instagram story, with the phrase “Rip It” appearing over the top.

Consequently, the Detroit radio station WDET 101.9FM, which is situated across the street from the Detroit Third Man store, played the record in full on air, which has since been uploaded online and you can listen below:

.@HooperRadio dropping the WORLD PREMIERE of new Jack White music! pic.twitter.com/pNok3J6RoL

— WDET 101.9FM (@wdet) July 19, 2024

Since then, a rip of the album has been uploaded to White’s official Reddit page. It is unclear if the album will receive a more extensive physical release. Beyond those lucky Third Man customers, members of the Third Man subscription service have also reported receiving the album in the mail (via Stereogum).

The record, as shared online, consists of a series of signature raw blues rock numbers from White, with blistering guitar riffs and garage rock production. Those in possession of the physical format say that Side A bears an etching reading ‘Heaven And Hell’, while Side B says ‘Black And Blue’.

White has released five solo albums to date, including the most recent double hit in 2022 of ‘Fear of the Dawn’ and ‘Entering Heaven Alive’ in 2022. In a four-star review of the latter, NME wrote: “There’s a temptation with White to believe that he can only be one thing at once: stray too far into the unknown and his work risks being called divisive and abrasive, but re-treading old glories would be admitting defeat.”

“What has made the release of these twin records so satisfying, though, is his ability to cater for all, but on his own terms. This is a creative period, one suspects, that both fans and White alike will look back on as one of his most complete and satisfying yet.”

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