Prince vaults begin to open with expanded edition of Purple Rain

Since Prince’s death earlier this year, one of the great unanswered questions has been: what will happen to the vast amount of unreleased music in his vault? Last week, it was reported and then denied that his music was to be put up for sale. Now, we have news that it is to begin seeing the light of day.

Don’t get too excited, though, because there’s not going to be a great rush of songs. The big news for fans is that his 1984 album Purple Rain is to be reissued in a deluxe, remastered version, featuring a second disc of previously unreleased material. What that material might be is unknown, as is the release date. All that is known is that the record will emerge in early 2017, and will be based on plans agreed with Prince before his death in April.

The Purple Rain reissue will be preceded by a new a new 40-track compilation, Prince 4Ever, to be released next month. While that album is almost entirely greatest hits, there’s one treat for fans (or a shameless attempt to get them to shell out for music they already have, depending on your point of view) in the form of Moonbeam Levels, a previously unreleased track.

Previously unreleased does not, in this case, mean previously unheard. The track is a much-bootlegged favourite among Prince fans, well enough known to have been covered in concert by Elvis Costello. You can find it on YouTube if you want to. It was recorded in July 1982, and included as the final track on the aborted album Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic – not the different Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic – before being shelved for Prince to work on the Batman soundtrack album.