Much like he did before he opened his Welcome 2 Canada tour by releasing a new track, albeit an awful re-make of the classic outtake "Extraloveable", Prince has surprised us with another new track a week before he starts his set of Welcome 2 Chicago shows. Thankfully, this time it is a much better song, although being the long time fan I am, I am not about to declare it any kind of a masterpiece either.
We all know Prince has nothing but disdain for critics of his music. If you don't make music, he has no use for your opinion on what he produces, especially when the review is negative. So here is an opinion Prince likely won't care about on this new track, being referred to as "RNR Affair" on the radio but Dr. Funkenberry has revealed on his site the correct, full title is "Rock & Roll Love Affair".
So this isn't an actual single you can buy, at least not yet, although it may be as Dr. Funkenberry also mentions a video for this was recently shot at Paisley Park. My thoughts on the song? It's basically typical of Prince's recent output. It's not earth shaking by any means, rather light weight and unessential in his overall catalog, but not without its charm. It calls to mind a number of other songs from his past including "Take Me With U", "The One U Wanna C" and "Willing And Able". It's a pure pop track, with some country-fied guitar in there too. The little keyboard hook is borderline cheesy and I really wish he'd get back to using real horns instead of this fake horn synth stuff.
It's a breezy little tune however, and very easy to interpret as about current muse/protege/whatever Andy Allo. He even drops a "When Stars Collide" reference in the lyrics, which just so happens to be a track on Allo's forthcoming NPG Records release Superconductor. And speaking of lyrics, it amazes me how a 'devout' Jehovah's Witness as Prince claims to be, can get away with such an obvious double entendre as 'If there's some room I'd like 2 sit at UR table, she said it's tight but I think I can fit U in'. It's a decent enough song, much better than pap like "Hot Summer" and "Rich Friends", but the days of being floored by a new Prince track appear long gone. I'd love to still be proven wrong and I'd also love to hear other fan opinion on the song. Once again, thanks and credit to Dr. Funkenberry for the information on the new song.
Now this is what I call music!!!
Posted by: cerda | October 23, 2012 at 03:14 AM
Being a long time Dutch (so excuse me for my bad English) Prince fan I must say the song is easy to listen to and very recognizable as a Prince song. The lyrics are as usual different from the way any other artist writes his lyrics and the bridge and interaction with the rest (she says : Hello/ Wait a minute) is original. It is not groundshaking, no, but it has a quality of production which is of high standards. Maybe we are spoiled by his past, but to my opinion Prince deliveres a very nice and good quality song.
Posted by: Marc | January 09, 2013 at 04:59 AM