Timed to coincide with the launch of Prince’s Welcome 2 Canada tour — he’s packed his Cuban heels for the Great White North, taking his largely female band, hundreds of rehearsed songs, and James Brown moves with him for the 10-city trek that kicked off last Friday in Toronto — the Purple One has released a new track, “Extraloveable.”

It’s not a new track, exactly, but a new version of an unreleased but oft-bootlegged song. “Extraloveable” was recorded in 1982 and reportedly considered for Vanity 6. If message-board chatter is to be believed, the lyric, “I’m sorry, but I’m just going to have to rape you,” might have had a little something to do with the song languishing in the vaults for nearly 30 years. But Prince was never one to shy away from controversy back then (he seemed to thrive on it), so I’ve got my doubts about that theory. Plus the line comes late in the seven-and-a-half-minute track, so it could have just as easily been excised.

Still, Prince’s refreshed “Extraloveable” includes no such unwelcome advances, though the comparatively squeaky-clean shower and bath-taking invitations remain intact (there seems to be some give on the whole Jehovah’s Witness thing). Like his marathon-long live performances, “Extraloveable” finds Prince in mighty funky form, with New Power Generation member, Andy Allo, bringing the modern with a rap break.

Prince’s loose and playful email interview with The Toronto Star is worth a read.

Purchase Prince – “Extraloveable” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.

[via Hard Candy]