Prince’s unreleased Welcome 2 America album will be freed from his vault in July

Prince’s vault has been raided again with a new song unearthed from his Welcome 2 America album which will be revealed.

Prince’s mythical basement vault has been raided for more musical gold from the late pop legend, with his fabled Welcome 2 America album to be released in July.

The pop superstar recorded the album in 2010 at his Paisley Park studios but shelved it the following year, choosing instead to go on the Welcome 2 world tour which he brought to Australian arenas in May 2012.

Prince’s shelved Welcome 2 America album will be released in July. Picture: Supplied.

The opening title track has been released as a preview of the 12-track album and proves to be an uncannily prescient commentary on the state of the world more than a decade after he penned it.

The song is a powerful spoken-word soliloquy set to music in which Prince comments about race relations, the impact of social media and reality television and inequalities in education and opportunity.

“The world is fraught with misin4mation. George Orwell’s vision of the future is here. We need 2 remain steadfast in faith in the trying times ahead,” Prince wrote in 2010.

As with every Prince release, the offering is vastly more than a studio album.

A deluxe edition also features an unreleased concert film of his April 28, 2011 performance at The Forum in Los Angeles as part of his historic 21 Nite Stand series of shows.

Prince performing in Sydney in 2012. Picture: Supplied/NPG Records.

That tour featured The Twinz, Australian dancers Maya and Nandy McClean who were part of the Prince family for a decade.

The Mullumbimby dancers were hand-picked by the superstar from their audition tape just six weeks after arriving in Los Angeles from Australia.

Prince with The Twinz, Maya and Nandy McClean. Picture: Supplied.

Other collaborators on the Welcome 2 America record include bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, drummer Chris Coleman, keyboardist Morris Hayes and singers Shelby J., Liv Warfield and Elisa Fiorillo.

The Welcome 2 America package will also be available as a double vinyl edition with music on three sides and “a collectable etching on the fourth side.”

The long-awaited Welcome 2 America album is released on July 30.

Prince – Welcome 2 America

Studio Album (CD/LP/Digital)

1. Welcome 2 America

2. Running Game (Son of a Slave Master)

3. Born 2 Die

4. 1000 Light Years From Here

5. Hot Summer

6. Stand Up and B Strong (Soul Asylum cover)

7. Check The Record

8. Same Page, Different Book

9. When She Comes

10. 1010 (Rin Tin Tin)

11. Yes

12. One Day We Will All B Free

Prince – Welcome 2 America (Live At The Forum, April 28, 2011)

Concert Performance

1. Joy In Repetition

2. Brown Skin (India. Arie cover)

3. 17 Days

4. Shhh

5. Controversy

6. Theme From “Which Way Is Up” (Stargard cover)

7. What Have You Done For Me Lately (Janet Jackson cover)

8. Partyman

9. Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan cover)

10. Misty Blue (Eddy Arnold cover)

11. Let’s Go Crazy

12. Delirious

13. 1999

14. Little Red Corvette

15. Purple Rain

16. The Bird (The Time cover – Prince composition)

17. Jungle Love (The Time cover – Prince composition)

18. A Love Bizarre (Sheila E. cover – Prince composition)

19. Kiss

20. Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover)

21. Inglewood Swinging (cover of Kool & the Gang’s “Hollywood Swinging”)

22. Fantastic Voyage (Lakeside cover)

23. More Than This (Roxy Music cover)

Originally published as Prince’s unreleased Welcome 2 America album will be freed from his vault in July