To be frank I’m a little Prince-d out.  After a long summer gorging myself on concerts, aftershows and unreleased gems my purple-appetite was fully sated. More than that, what with it being the a full 20 years since his last decent album, the long standing rumours (and evidence) of unmetered control-freakery and those ‘PR friendly’ lawsuits against his own fans perhaps it is time to get some perspective.

Next week sees the release of Controversy A Tribute to Prince a collection of hit and miss cover versions. It’s an interesting selection, highlighting the complex relationship between song and songwriter and providing a useful insight into the influence of Prince’s persona has the music he makes.

There is obviously a fare amount of rubbish. It’s probably not in the best interests of most  musicians to invite direct comparisons with someone as gifted a Prince. It’s certainly hasn’t made me think any more of Blue States and Peaches who bring nothing to limp versions of Alphabet St and Sexy Dancer respectively, but elsewhere quality prevails. D’Angelo brings his voodoo funk to the lesser known ‘She’s always in my Hair’ and The Broadway Project’s version of ‘Dorothy Parker’ has been a long time favorite of mine (wasn’t it on another Prince cover version alvum ?)- both sound great. The Dynamic bring their patented ’surprising reggae cover version’ schtick to ‘Girls  and Boys’ *cough*one trick pony*cough* and Rob Mello does a version of Critical (??) which really wants to be Moodymann’s majestic ‘U Can Dance if you want 2′ ,but clearly isn’t.

Best of the bunch is Susanna and The Magical Orchestra’s take on ‘Around the World in a Day’s’ classic slow-y ‘Condition of the Heart’. Stripping away the psychedelic flourishes and the freaky Prince touches to reveal an intimate and melancholy love song, Susanna takes the song back to it’s wendy & lisa penned (?) origins. It’s a song that works better the more it reveals. Something Prince spends most of his time trying not to do.

You can hear it here.

Susanna and The Magical Orchestra-Condition of the Heart