Amy Winehouse has some Hidden Treasures

She had been working on new material for years, trying to better smash hit record Back To Black.

And now a secret album of brand new songs by Amy Winehouse is being slated for release months after the 27-year-old’s death.

Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures is said to contain original tracks as well as covers.

One song reportedly tells of cheating ex-husband Blake Fielder Civil while another was recorded while the singer was high on drugs.

The album also features a recording of jazz standard Body and Soul with Tony Bennett.

Winehouse’s father Mitch said the new material ‘took my breath away.’

The 60-year-old added tearfully: ‘I spent so much time chasing after Amy – telling her off – that I never realised what a true genius she was.’

He said the album would never have been released if the family had felt it wasn’t up to the standard of his daughter’s 2003 debut Frank and much celebrated second album Back To Black in 2006.

‘We believe it will stand as a fitting tribute to her musical legacy,’ Mitch added.

Producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson pulled the album together after listening back to thousands of hours of vocals by the star.

Remi said listening back to Winehouse’s voice was an ’emotional’ experience.

‘I believe she has left something beyond her years,’ he said.

‘She has put a body of work together that will inspire an unborn generation.’

The star was found dead in bed in her Camden flat in north London on the afternoon of Saturday 23 July this year.

Last week, an inquest heard the singer was more than five times the legal drink-drive limit when she died, but clear of illegal drugs.

The new album is said to be due for release in December. Money from each copy sold will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

by Wallace McTavish

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