Hear Jack White’s Balloon Single, ‘Freedom at 21′

It’s rare these days for a new album by a high-profile artist to hit stores without the label agreeing to some sort of online “try before you buy” promotion, whether it’s streaming the record for free or releasing an electronic press kit that offers snippets of a few songs. But that stuff is for amateurs, man — Jack White knows how to really get people excited about hearing his new music. Case in point: the flexidisc single he recently released via helium balloon, which has now turned up online as a vinyl rip.

Just to be clear, we’re talking about a song that will end up coming out on White’s new album ‘Blunderbuss’ next Tuesday, at which point anyone will be able to hear it at the click of a button. But the fact that the singles were printed in an extremely limited run, as well as the unorthodox way they were released, has made them an instant collector’s item, as well as helped ramp up curiosity regarding the song itself — which is why it’s newsworthy that some enterprising soul shared an mp3 of the track, ‘Freedom at 21,’ after ripping it from the disc.

So here you go, folks: ‘Freedom at 21,’ complete with the satisfying pop of the needle hitting the record and just enough analog hiss. White would probably prefer we just play it on a turntable, but until we can get our hands on a vinyl copy of ‘Blunderbuss,’ this will have to suffice. Have a listen and let us know what you think!