Prince released four albums in the two years leading up to his death. A lifelong musician, Prince hardly went more than a handful of years without a new record since the late '70s—totaling 39 albums in his career. The longest break between albums of his career was after 20Ten, when he took only four years to release Plectrumelectrum. Prince never stopped creating. That's why, after his death, Prince's estate found thousands of hours of unreleased recordings hidden in a vault at Paisley Park.
The contents of that vault will finally be shared in-part on Friday, the first anniversary of Prince's death, with the release of a new EP titled Deliverance. The EP contains six unearthed recordings Prince made between 2006 and 2008 that he co-wrote and co-produced alongside Ian Boxill, an engineer who worked with Prince on records from that same period.
"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," Boxill said in a press release. "Prince once told me that he would go to bed every night thinking of ways to bypass major labels and get his music directly to the public. When considering how to release this important work, we decided to go independent because that's what Prince would have wanted."
The title track from the EP is available to hear now on iTunes. And, honestly, it's hard to listen to knowing the talent that the world lost one year ago. Prince rips his stunning falsetto and unparalleled guitar chops over this patient gospel groove. He's backed by a choir and sings lyrics "No son shall die, no mother shall cry / All in favor, say aye / Because time's so hard to deal with / Deliverance is at hand, at hand, at hand," like a parishioner of soul.
Prince left the world too early, but his music remains. And thankfully there's more of that to come.
