Chicago rock band Wilco have surprise-dropped their new album as a free download, available now.

The band have not released a studio album since 2011's 'The Whole Love', although frontman Jeff Tweedy released an album under the name 'Tweedy' with his teenage son Spencer on drums last year.

The new 11-track album is rather amusingly called 'Star Wars' and explaining its release on Facebook, Tweedy said: "Why release an album this way and why make it free? Well, the biggest reason, and I'm not sure we even need any others, is that it felt like it would be fun. What's more fun than a surprise?”

To download the album, you need to input your email address at wilcoworld.net. The artwork can be seen below.