LONDON (AFP) ― A new album containing previously unheard material by British soul singer Amy Winehouse is to be released just months after her death from alcohol poisoning, her record label confirmed Monday.
“Lioness: Hidden Treasures,” features unreleased tracks, alternate versions of existing classics as well as a couple of brand new compositions by the songstress, an Island Records statement said.
It will hit stores on Dec. 5.
The album “proves a fitting tribute to the artist, the talent and the woman and serves as a reminder of Amy’s extraordinary powers as a songwriter, a singer and an interpreter of classics,” the statement said.
The Sun newspaper reported that it includes a track recorded by the “Rehab” singer while she was on heroin, as well as a song documenting her turbulent relationship with her ex-husband.
The tabloid said $1.60 from every copy of the posthumous album sold will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which supports vulnerable young people in Britain and abroad.
Winehouse, 27, was found dead at her north London home on July 23 after a long struggle with drink and drugs.
An inquest into her death revealed last week that the troubled singer had suddenly drunk heavily after abstaining for three weeks and was poisoned by alcohol.
She was more than five times over the British drink-drive limit when she died, the inquest heard.
Island Records, which released her debut album “Frank” and 2006’s Grammy-award winning album “Back to Black,” said the album will be produced by close friends and collaborators Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi.
It was created in association with Winehouse’s family and management, the label said.
Winehouse’s father, Mitch, told the The Sun that the album lived up to her standards.
“Had the family felt this album wasn’t up to the standard of Amy’s others, we’d never have agreed to release it. We believe it will stand as a fitting tribute to her musical legacy,” he said.
