About that new Beck album, the one he began making before Morning Phase that was originally slated for late 2014, then 2015. The one that earlier this year received an October 21, 2016 release date that was then reported by The New York Times to be delayed to November, then announced by Morning Becomes Eclectic‘s Jason Bentley to be coming early 2017. It’s anybody’s guess when it will actually arrive, but when asked on December 11th by Ted Stryker at KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas, Beck said it’s “forthcoming, yeah, very soon. Just finished that up actually.” That response was a tad surprising for fans awaiting the album that had speculatively believed the album was finished this past summer (as comments Beck had made earlier this year seemed to indicate, as did the impression that both Q magazine and The New York Times had heard the finished album circa September, if not earlier. At the very least both publications have heard several unreleased songs from it – as discussed in this preview of the album).

Equally un-reassuring, when asked how many tracks are on the allegedly now finished album Beck tentatively replies “uh… I think twelve-ish. That’s a good round dozen.” As for why it was delayed, apparently nothing more than a busy schedule and Beck being meticulous. “This record was supposed to come out over the last year,” Beck says, “and then I’ve been touring and doing a million other things.”