Trip-hop originators Massive Attack have announced plans to preview their third album, Mezzanine, on the Internet beginning March 20 at the band's website, www.massiveattack.co.uk. That will be more than three weeks before the album's slated April 13 release in the U.K. and a full month before the U.S. release date of May 12.

The first available segment of the LP will be a 45-second audio clip of the single "Teardrop," featuring vocals from Elizabeth Fraser, formerly of the ethereal duo Cocteau Twins. A complete version of the single will be available at the site on March 23.

The artwork and the 11 songs on Mezzanine, produced by the Bristol, England-based trio and producer Neil James Davidge (Suzanne Vega, Vanessa Williams), will be posted on the Internet in small increments on a daily basis, over the course of 25 days, until all of the art is visible and all of the songs can be heard at the site.

Massive Attack's U.K. publicist, Heather Finlay, stopped short of calling the move unprecedented, but said she could not recall another band giving a sneak preview of a entire new album in this manner and that "it was something the band thought was quite special to do."

At least one Massive Attack fan and record-industry insider thought that this type of record promotion would pique the interest of listeners worldwide.

"I would immediately log on just to get a preview of the album," said Renee Tyler, a Massive Attack fan and the national product manager's assistant at Tower Records. "I definitely think it will excite fans, as well as boost sales -- just the thought that it's starting from the beginning and that each day it's going to develop further."

A spokesman at Virgin Records' London office said that the Internet preview will run concurrently with a large-scale ad campaign, and that several websites -- including "Dazed And Confused" and the Bristol-based "Venue" -- will have links to the band's website.

Finlay described the trailblazing threesome's follow-up to 1995's No Protection as sounding darker and more complex.

"Mezzanine is much darker than the last two albums. There's more guitars. It's much more complex," said Finlay, who added that Fraser sings on a total of three tracks and that the song "Dissolved Girl" features the soulful vocals of singer Sara Jay.

The complete track-listing of the album is: "Angel," "Risingson," "Teardrop," "Inertia Creeps," "Exchange," "Dissolved Girl," "Man Next Door," "Black Milk," "Mezzanine," "Group 4" and "Exchange Part II."