LONDON (AP) – A new album of recordings by the late soul singer Amy Winehouse will be released in December, Island Records said Monday.
It said “Lioness: Hidden Treasures” will contain 12 songs — previously unreleased tracks, alternative versions of existing hits and brand new songs — recorded by the beehive-wearing singer who died at her London home on July 23.
The label said Winehouse’s longtime musical partners Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi had spent time since her death listening to recordings of the singer, who many said never sang or played a song the same way twice.
Island Records said the duo quickly realized that they had “a collection of songs that deserved to be heard, a collection of songs that were a fitting testament to Amy the artist and, as importantly, Amy their friend.”
The album — Winehouse’s third after “Frank” and “Back to Black” — will be released on Dec. 5. Ronson and Remi compiled the tracks in collaboration with Winehouse’s family, management and the label.
Winehouse’s final studio recording — a cover of “Body & Soul” sung with Tony Bennett — will be included in the album.
The singer’s father, Mitch Winehouse, said he had never before heard another one of the tracks, “Halftime,” and described the song as “just incredibly beautiful.”
“If the family had felt that this album wasn’t up to the standard of ‘Frank’ and ‘Back To Black’ we would never have agreed to release it and we believe it will stand as a fitting tribute to Amy’s musical legacy,” he said in the Island Records statement.
A donation of 1 pound ($1.60) from the sale of each album in the U.K. will go to a foundation to assist disadvantaged children and young adults set up in the artist’s name following her death.
Last week a British coroner ruled the Grammy-winning singer died from accidental alcohol poisoning when she resumed drinking after weeks of abstinence.
The 27-year-old Winehouse had fought a very public battle with drug and alcohol abuse for years, and there had been much speculation that she died from a drug overdose.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
