The Prince estate will be releasing the legend’s posthumous studio album Welcome 2 America next week, which consists of recordings made in 2010 that were then archived for unknown reasons. A new single from the project called “Hot Summer” has also been released, ahead of season two of the official Prince podcast The Story of Welcome 2 America.
“Hot Summer” is a nostalgic Prince song, recalling the performer’s pre-Purple Rain era, with its catchy grooves and jumpy rhythms meshing well with its overall laid back tone. Prince’s signature keys and guitars are another highlight of the nostalgic track, which features additional singing from Liv Warfield and backing vocals from Shelby J. and Elisa Fiorillo.
Although most of Welcome 2 America was archived, “Hot Summer” was shared by Prince in 2010, when the song originally hit the airwaves on Minnesota Public Radio’s 89.3 The Current in honor of his 52nd birthday. Warfield’s band New Power Generation originally toured with Prince from 1990 until 2013.
“I really love the fact that everything else on Welcome 2 America was so serious, but then it came to this fun, kind of like feel-good vibe,” Liv Warfield said a statement posted to YouTube. “It makes me think we’re all at the beach doing the twist, like Annette Funicello.”
Prince’s estate previously released the posthumous single “Born 2 Die” in June, which had influences from iconic soul performer Curtis Mayfield. Last year the estate released another previously unreleased song called “Cosmic Day,” which appeared on a special deluxe reissue of the 1987 album Sign o’ the Times.
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