The cover for Regina Spektor's "What We Saw From the Cheap Seats"

Credit: Sire/Warner Bros.

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Regina Spektor's cover of "Ne me quitte pas" is awfully upbeat, but the singer-songwriter's weekend felt more like her harrowing new single "All the Rowboats" sounds.

The singer-songwriter went on a brief rant addressing the fact that bits and bobs of her new album "What We Saw From the Cheap Seats" -- like demos and art -- have been leaking. On her Facebook page, she questioned motive: "So sad to have art/photos/videos/music keep leaking online unfinished and at the wrong time... The strange thing is that if it's getting stolen and put out by someone who likes me and my music- why would they want to put me through this?" she wrote. "[A]nd if it's someone who doesn't like me- why would they waste all that precious time on me... it's confusing/feels sh*tty/takes much of the fun out (there's too much fun to take all of it out, though) Feels strange just waiting for things i'm working on to get stolen one by one."

It's a losing battle many artists have fought for years, a small war that only acts like Madonna and Watch the Throne (Jay-Z and Kanye West) have the control and resources to prevent. It's also an inevitable part of the promotional process and album cycle that announces new albums three months out, release a single or song at that time and then have that awful waiting period super-fans must endure during that time, especially if a tour starts only a month out from that.

It's still no excuse. Spektor has the backing of Sire/Warner, but her profile is still small enough that every blow counts.

And how darling is her newest redux "Ne me quitte pas" ("Don't Leave Me")? How you could you dare harm a fawn like that?

The poppy, sugary cover (which also appeared on 2002's "Songs") is the latest from "Cheap Seats," and proceeds "Rowboats," which is refreshingly coarser, richer and dark. Both songs are below in the play box. The video for "All the Rowboats" will cast off on Thursday (March 29).

"What We Saw from the Cheap Seats" is out on May 29 -- the same day as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' "Here" and Sigur Ros' newly announced "Valtari." It is her first studio album since 2009's "Far."

Spektor is going on tour this spring, with many dates in support of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Check out all scheduled stops here. 

She is also plotting a Record Store Day release,  a 7″ single featuring two Russian covers: “The Prayer Of François Villon” and “Old Jacket.” Record store day is on April 21.

Here is the tracklist for "What We Saw From the Cheap Seats":

1. Small Town Moon
2. Oh Marcello
3. Don’t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)
4. Firewood
5. Patron Saint
6. How
7. All the Rowboats
8. Ballad of a Politician
9. Open
10. The Party
11. Jessica