Since the death of singer Amy Winehouse in July, fans have been wondering when the British soul singer’s final recordings would be released to the public. Now, Winehouse’s record label, Island, has announced that a new album of recordings entitled, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, will hit stores in December.
According to MTV News, Island announced the news in a press release on Oct. 31. Winehouse’s longtime friends and producers, Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, along with Winehouse’s family and label, compiled the 12 songs for the album, which will include unreleased material, remakes of jazz and soul classic and alternate takes of previously released songs.
“It was said by all who worked with Amy that she never sang or played a song the same way twice,” read the release announcing the disc. “It quickly became apparent to Salaam and Mark 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 disc will feature alternate takes of such popular Winhouse songs like “Wake Up Alone,” “Tears Dry On Their Own,” and “Valerie.” For the remakes, Winehouse delves into the golden ages of R&B and soul and covers classic tracks like the Shirelle’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” an acoustic version of Donny Hathaway’s “A Song For You,” recorded while WInehouse struggled with her addictions and a 2002 reggae version Ruby & The Romantics 1960s classic “Our Day Will Come.”
Fans will also hear unreleased recordings of Winehouse’s “Halftime” and a cover of “The Girl From Ipanema,” which the singer originally recorded during sessions for her 2003 album, Frank. More recent unreleased material includes the song “Between The Cheats,” which reportedly details the singer’s tumultuous relationship with ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil. The album will also feature a verse one of Winehouse’s biggest fans, rapper Nas, who contributed to the track “Like Smoke.”
Winehouse’s father, Mitch, revealed in the statement that with Lioness, he’s learned to appreciate his daughter’s music in a new way and believes that fans will appreciate the new disc as much as they have her previous work.
“I spent so much time chasing after Amy, telling her off, that I never realized what a true genius she was,” Mitch said. “It wasn’t until I sat down with the rest of the family and listened to this album that I fully appreciated the breadth of Amy’s talent, from jazz standards to hip-hop songs, it really took my breath away.”
In the two years before her death, Winehouse was reportedly working on the followup to her massively successful 2006 album, Back to Black. It’s unclear whether all of the material recorded will be on the new album or if more releases will follow.
A donation of 1 pound ($1.60) from the sale of each album in the U.K. will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which helps “support or care for young people, especially those who are in need by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction.”
Lioness: Hidden Treasures hits stores on Dec. 5. –nicholas robinson
