Some bloggers have posted the track without as much as a mention, but Coolfer sees an angle on the new Elefant MP3 that adds a new wrinkle to the DRM debates: The download comes with the blessings of Hollywood Records.

Hollywood, which has a deal with Elefant's label, Kemado, is part of the Walt Disney company and so Coolfer is very surprised such a label advanced beyond lossy audio streams as a way to build Internet buzz. Generally, the bigger the label the less interested it is in giving away unprotected files of its songs -- unless, of course, it's somehow "leaked" to P2P networks. That's why Hollywood's involvement in this free download is such an event. Will others follow? For their own sake, some majors should follow suit. MySpace streams will only go so far.

The song wasn't just leaked or emailed to bloggers. A page was created and is hosted at the Hollywood domain.

Ah yes, about the song: A good tune, it's a thematic leap forward for the band and has a richness that was missing on its debut album. The album from which the song is taken, The Black Magic Show, will be out in April of 2006 and was produced by Don Gilmore and mixed by Andy Wallace. Yes, Kemado wanted to do it right.

Elefant: "The Clown" MP3

Or stream the song in WMA or RA.