Wilson says he's been told not to 'fuck with the formula' before, but insists it is his job to do that

Brian Wilson is fending off his fans' bad vibrations after revealing his new album may include duets with Lana Del Rey, Frank Ocean and Zooey Deschanel. Wilson implored long-time listeners to "wait until the album comes out" before judging the music: "I think you just might dig it as much as I do."

Wilson's audience has clearly surprised him. The Beach Boys songwriter was so excited to reveal his collaborators that he pre-empted the publication that was set to announce them: on Tuesday, Wilson's website quoted a Rolling Stone article that isn't due to be published until 19 June: "This project blows my mind," Wilson said in that interview, citing the slate of team-ups "in contention" for the new record. These songs include Special Love, with Ocean, Last Song, with Del Rey, Sharing a New Day, with country star Kacey Musgraves, and the "space-age bossa nova" of On the Island, which features Deschanel.

Instead of applauding the contemporary guests, though, many of Wilson's fans seemed to doubt his sanity. "To me these collaborators represent exactly the type of pop fodder that is the very antithesis to what I associate with a genius like [Brian]," one listener wrote on Wilson's Facebook wall. "Everything is ruined," complained another, while someone else decried the recordings as a Santana-like "cash in".



"It kind of bums me out to see some of the negativity here about the album I’ve been working so hard on," Wilson wrote in a follow-up post. "In my life in music, I’ve been told too many times not to fuck with the formula, but as an artist it’s my job to do that – and I think I’ve earned that right. I’m really proud of these new songs and to hear these great artists sing on them just blows me away. I love what we’ve done. I would think that after making music for more than 50 years, my fans would understand that I’ll always do what’s in my heart – and I think that’s why you are my fans."

Certainly Wilson seemed a little smitten when he did an interview with Zooey Deschanel in 2008. "You're a very pretty girl," he told her then, with a voice "like … an angel". She laughed and told him his live rendition of Surfer Girl had made her cry.

The upcoming album will be Wilson's first collection of original material since 2008's That Lucky Old Sun.