ALBUM OF THE WEEK

Prince Piano And A Microphone 1983 NPG/Warner, out Sep 21 ★★★★★

It’s taken two years for the first posthumous releases to emerge from Prince’s vast archival vault, but the wait has been worthwhile. Taped in January 1983 at his Kiowa Trail home studio in Minnesota, Piano And A Microphone delivers exactly what its title promises, and much more. It features nine songs performed alone at the piano. Some are classics-inwaiting (we get 90 delicious seconds of Purple Rain), some are tenderly exploratory covers (Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You), some are in the first flood of composition (a fun bash at Strange Relationship), and some have remained unheard until now. We already knew Prince was a genius. This album deepens our understanding of why.

Graeme Thomson