Prince Debuts New Single, and Album, at Listening Session in NYC

His Royal Purpleness will keep you waiting until the wee hours of SuperBowl night to hear new music. Because he is Prince. And you will wait.

Hours after making a cameo on Fox’s New Girl, the ESSENCE Festival headliner, and ESSENCE, hosted an intimate listening party in New York City to announce his new single “Pretzelbodylogic” with his female backing band 3rd Eye Girl, and preview new music from their forthcoming album, PlectrumElectrum.

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“This is the first time anyone else other than us has heard it,” said bass player Ida Nielsen before debuting the funk and rock-influenced “Pretzelbodylogic” (which is out on iTunes today). Drummer Hannan Ford shared how Prince had mentored them as a group and brought tons of flavor to the band. “The knowledge you gain spending two seconds with [Prince] is limitless, she said, excitedly.

Around 2am, The Purple One showed up, picture-perfect Afro in tow, and went straight for the DJ booth, where Doug E. Fresh was holding court, playing hip hop classics. Prince briefly mingled with his band as they listened to playbacks of songs from the new album, including “Funk N Roll.”

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As quickly as the king of mysterious came, he left. The dance floor remained upbeat as thoughts of a new Prince album in 2014 kept us all awake. We can’t wait to hear what he has in store at the ESSENCE Festival this July 4 weekend.