The untimely passing of the Minnesota-born singer has left loyal fans waiting. Waiting for unreleased music to fill their hearts again and those fans received a lovely gift this past week when the singer’s estate shared the original version of his iconic song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” With the release of the track, fans wonder if something bigger is coming. And they were right.
Now, it comes to light that a new album of previously unreleased music from the late singer is scheduled for release on September 28th. Troy Carter along with his company Atom Factory is now overseeing Prince’s estate, and they have been busily preparing the new LP.
It is known to fans that Prince was very protective of his music, keeping a large percentage of it locked away in his vault including videos and songs. When Carter took the lead on Prince’s estate, the musical archives was transported to a facility in Los Angeles where they have been archived, restored and even prepared for release. According to Carter’s interview with Variety, “Prince basically saved everything, so there are decades of music and video and artefacts, but it takes long time to go through each one of those and research the historical context: where is this from, who did he collaborate with, where was it recorded, what year, was it the final version?”
The new album, which Carter told Variety, wouldn’t just be a compilation but “more time-specific. Michael Howe, who’s been working with us on the archive, has done a tremendous job of finding some special pieces of work, and one of the pieces that he found, all of us fell in love with it and decided this was special enough for fans to hear. So we’re putting the final touches on it—it’ll come in the fall.”
This past week was the second anniversary of Prince’s death, while Maddison Square Garden lit up in purple, the estate celebrated by launching two new websites in honor of the singer. One is the fan-centric Prince2Me which has videos and artwork honoring the cultural icon and allowing fans to express themselves by sharing what Prince meant to them. The other website is the archival annotated discography, which dives deep into the singer’s career. Both sites are like a rabbit hole; one could get lost falling into the interactive pages of Prince’s life.