Billy Corgan has begun recording the next Smashing Pumpkins [ tickets ] album, which will be delivered in a variety of "unique and exciting" ways, according to a statement posted at the band's website.

The first of the 44 songs from the upcoming album, "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope," will be available for no charge as a stand-alone digital product beginning around Halloween of this year; each new free tune will be released one at a time shortly after.

"There will be no strings attached," Corgan said in the statement. "Free will mean free, which means you won't have to sign up for anything, give an email address or jump through a hoop. You will be able to go and take the song or songs as you wish, as many times as you wish."

The Smashing Pumpkins also will package and sell 11 "highly limited edition" EPs comprising four songs each. Each EP--designed more like mini box sets rather than a normal CD single--will be created as a collectors' item for discerning fans who would be interested in the art and the highest possible audio quality, Corgan said.

Details of how and where the EPs will be made available are still being worked out. Additionally, the Pumpkins may offer other variations of the recordings--possibly a digital single with a demo version of a song, for example, according to the site.

All of the album cuts also will be compiled into a deluxe box set upon completion. Corgan assures those who plan to buy the EPs that the box set will not be a recompilation of the limited-edition pieces.

"The story of the album is based on 'The Fool's Journey', as signified in the progress of the Tarot," Corgan's statement continued. "It is my intention to approach this by breaking down the journey of our life here into four phases as made by these different characters; the Child, the Fool, the Skeptic, and the Mystic."

He added that the sound of the upcoming album harkens back to the original psychedelic roots of Smashing Pumpkins, which Corgan describes as "atmospheric, melodic, heavy and pretty."