After taking a rare four-year hiatus from releasing studio albums, Prince will drop a pair of new LPs on September 30th: One a collaborative disc with his group 3rdEyeGirl called Plectrumelectrum and the other a solo album dubbed Art Official Age. Both mark Prince's first releases since 2010's 20Ten was given away with select European publications. Prince has already unveiled a couple tracks from both albums, like Art Official Age's "Breakdown" and Plectrumelectrum's kinky "Breakfast Can Wait," and today the rocker debuted another new track, "U Know," on his SoundCloud page.
This futuristic slow jam is taken from Art Official Age and, as promised, it recaptures the sound of "classic Prince," since it could be the singer's catchiest cut since 3121's "Black Sweat." "Feminine rising, not surprising, recognizing that the power of the breast is just a test that you be winning," Prince sing-speaks on "U Know," which sounds like Parliament tackling the mellower moments of Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience thanks to its bouncy piano and funky beat. "You know how much I want you, you know much I care, you gonna know I'm gonna flaunt you," Prince sings in falsetto on the track's chorus.
Art Official Age and Plectrumelectrum mark that first time Prince has teamed with Warner Bros. since his infamous split with the label back in the early-Nineties, when the artist was forced to refer to himself both as "The Artist" and that "love symbol." Art Official Age also features an "aggressive and menacing" rap song with Rita Ora, a "wild and rude" track called "The Gold Standard," and a ballad titled "This Could Be Us" that was inspired by Prince's Purple Rain co-star Apollonia Kotero. By preordering the albums at Prince's official site, you'll receive some "instant gratification" downloads.
As for that 30th anniversary reissue of Purple Rain that was announced earlier this year, a release date still has not yet been revealed.
