The one-year anniversary of Prince passing is April 21st, and to commemorate, previously-unreleased music is on the agenda to see the light of day.
The six-track EP is called Deliverance, and features music from recordings spanning from 2006-2008. Prince co-wrote and co-produced the songs with his mixing and recording engineer Ian Boxill, who spent the past year finishing the arrangements and mixing the songs.
The listen to a snippet of the title track:
The songs on Deliverance all address social frustrations Prince witnessed. Boxhill states, “I believe ‘Deliverance’ is a timely release with everything going on in the world today and in light of the one-year anniversary of his passing. I hope when people hear Prince singing these songs it will bring comfort to many,” said Boxill in a statement. The release also states that the majority of all sales of Deliverance will benefit Prince’s estate.
While this sounds good and dandy, the release of Deliverance isn’t welcomed by everyone; apparently the music hasn’t’ been authorized for release by Paisley Park and the late singer’s estate, who are suing Boxhill.
According to Variety, the suit claims Boxill violated an agreement with Prince that stated all recordings he worked on with the artist would remain Prince’s “sole and exclusive” property, and that Boxill would not use them “in any way whatsoever.” The suit also says that Boxill has refused to return the recordings, which are worth more than $75,000.
With this pending lawsuit, there’s no telling how long the music will be available or if the release will go through, but for now, pre-order on iTunes HERE.
