Skrillex releases new album via smartphone

Skrillex has released tracks from his new album Recess via his Alien Ride smartphone app.

Electronic dance music star Skrillex has released his new album Recess via his smartphone app. (AAP)

Electronic dance music star Skrillex has followed Beyonce's example by shock-releasing his new album via his smartphone app.

Skrillex released the tracks from his new album Recess one after the other on Monday evening. The tunes are now streaming in full for fans who downloaded his Alien Ride app.

Samples of the album are also available on iTunes.

The album will go on full release from March 18.

Recess features an eclectic mix of collaborators, including Diplo, Passion Pit's Michael Angelakos and K-Pop star G-Dragon. It also features his new composition for the Divergent soundtrack, Stranger.

Until Monday night, no one knew that Skrillex, real name Sonny Moore, had completed work on a new album.