Hard-rocking new Prince song ‘Screwdriver’ appears online

Add Prince to the growing group of veteran artists releasing new songs seemingly out of nowhere.

Like David Bowie and Justin Timberlake before him, the Purple One sprang a new tune -- in this case, a tight little fuzz-rock delight titled “Screwdriver” -- on unsuspecting fans this week, and Pop & Hiss is pleased to report that it’s definitely worth your bandwidth. (Watch a lyric video for the tune below.)

Prince appears to have recorded the tune with his new backing band, which may or may not be called 3rdEyeGirl. That’s the name attached to recently established Twitter and YouTube accounts distributing various bits of Prince ephemera, including concert clips and a mushy jam-like situation known as “Chapter & Verse.” And in Billboard’s current cover story on the musician (who’s scheduled to perform at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 19), writer Gail Mitchell describes watching Prince rehearse with a female trio: guitarist Donna Grantis, bassist Ida Nielsen and drummer Hannah Ford Welton.

Beyond reminding us that Prince can still work up a sweat, “Screwdriver” seems designed to attract fans to a new website, 20pr1nc3.com. So far, it features only the “Screwdriver” lyric video, a minute-long clip from what seems to be a forthcoming concert film and music by Prince’s latest protégé, Andy Allo. (Her tune “People Pleaser” kind of rules, FYI.)

But if that doesn’t seem like much, consider that Prince has historically had as little as possible to do with the Internet. Perhaps the new site portends a busy 2013. Who knows what other surprises he might have in store?

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