Flight Of The Conchords’ eponymous HBO show returns to the airwaves on Jan. 18, and this time around, fans will be able to purchase music from each episode the day after it airs, Billboard can reveal.
Shortly after the conclusion of the 10-episode season, an as-yet-untitled album featuring 10 tracks from the show plus five additional songs not part of the download promotion will be available on April 14. The first song, “Angels,” goes live Jan. 19 on iTunes. Fans can also pre-order the album through SubPop.com and receive one track per week.
The New Zealand duo, whose bumbling adventures in life and the music business are at the heart of the show, has emerged as one of the biggest success stories in comedy over the past two years.
Its 2007 Sub Pop debut, the EP “The Distant Future,” won a Grammy for best comedy album. And its self-titled full-length, released in April 2008, has sold 237,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and is up for a Grammy in the same category.
Because the songs used in the show are often only a minute long, the versions on the upcoming album will be quite different. “More than one of them leans on a ’70s soul sound,” Sub Pop head of A&R Tony Kiewel tells Billboard.com. “I’ve also heard this choir-y sort of thing, a Meat Loaf-y sort of thing and a crazy top 40-type jam.”
Mickey Petralia, who produced the debut, is back on board, while Kiewel says Sia provides backing vocals on at least one song. A Flight Of The Conchords North American tour is being targeted for April or May.