Prince To Release Three Albums This Year

• 5th Jan 2009

Prince is planning on releasing three albums this year, and without involving a record company, in the US at least, where he says he is in talks with a major retailer about them exclusively distributing the releases.

Prince courted controversy in 2007 when his album 'Planet Earth', distributed by Sony in most territories, was given away as a covermount CD by the Mail On Sunday in the UK. Exclusivity deals with one retailer, normally for a certain time period, were once a little bit controversial in the North American market, but have become quite common of late with many artists doing deals with major retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy. It's not clear which retailer Prince is talking to in the US, nor whether a more conventional distribution partnership with a major record company will be forged elsewhere.

According to the LA Times, four new guitar-heavy Prince tracks premiered on LA radio station Indie 103 last month will appear on the first of his new albums, to be called 'Lotus Flower'. The paper's Ann Powers, who visited the singer's home to hear other new material, wrote on the paper's website: “Needless to say, it was an amazing experience”.

She says the second new album will contrast with the guitar sound of the first by returning to “the electronic sound of When Doves Cry”, while the third will be a seductive soulful collection of songs. The latter, Powers reports, is a collaboration between Prince and his new protégé Bria Valente, and was recorded because they “got sick of waiting for Sade to make a new album”.