If you follow Derek Webb either via email or on Twitter, you’ve probably seen the discussions of late regarding Derek’s new album “Stockholm Syndrome”.

It also doesn’t come as a surprise that, according to Derek’s last two email updates, the record label is taking issue to some of the content of the record, specifically, but not limited to, a particular word in one of the song’s lyrics.  This, of course, is not new for Derek, as he has seen controversy over lyrics before (the song “Wedding Dress” comes to mind).

The latest development has occurred during the last 24 hours, where derekwebb.com has gone mostly dark, left with the text of his last two email updates as the only content.  Derek has also urged his Twitter followers to follow a new account, @ssyndrome, as he has ceased from updated his personal twitter profile for the time being.

The last email update is the most interesting piece of this puzzle so far, as it had some seemingly misplaced underscores strewn throughout the text.  Those with a curiosity, like me, would find a pattern in the placement of the underscores, where taking the letters directly after the underscores and putting them together spells out a possibly cryptic message:

“Paradise is a parking lot”.  Update:  This is a web address, http://paradiseisaparkinglot.com.  The site gives visitors instructions to go on hunts for verification codes.  The first instruction: “Go to Ugly Mugs in East Nashville, ask for a ‘Stockholm Latte’”.  I’m wishing I lived in Nashville right now, because this sounds like a lot of fun.

I will admit, I had not listened to any of the album previews that were previously posted on his website, so I am not sure of the significance of this particular phrase.  I’m hoping the scores of Derek Webb fans on the underbelly of the internet could shed some light on this message.

I’m not sure if all of this furor regarding “Stockholm Syndrome” is absolutely genuine, or is a brilliant marketing scheme, but either way, at this point I’m hooked.

Update:  The first twitter update from @ssyndrome reads “The first of 5 Nashville Artifacts has been found”.  This is getting stranger by the second.

Yet another update:  From the commenter below – a link to a full recap of what has transpired so far, as well as some interesting commentary.  We’ll see how this all plays out.

Other links following this developing story:

The Bloggable Music Network

Tags: derekwebb, ssyndrome