One of the great mysteries of the past 12 months in music is why Corinne Bailey Rae’s second album, The Sea, didn’t do very well. Maybe she was hurt by the long layoff between albums, maybe she was hurt by not having a major pop radio hit. Either way, the British singer/songwriter’s second album was a marked improvement over her first-an album on which the hype and the actual quality were sort of uneven. Anyway, give The Sea a listen. I think you’ll like it.

Anyhoo, Corinne’s got something else cookin’ not even a year later. She’s got an EP coming out just in time for Valentine’s Day called Love (talk about appropriate album titles), and one of the tracks is a cover of Prince’s breakout jam “I Wanna Be Your Lover”. This is kind of a ballsy move for two reasons. One, the bouncy sound of “Lover” isn’t something you’d normally associate with Corinne’s more reserved music. Two, Prince generally doesn’t like people to cover his records. I still remember him threatening to kick a high-heeled hole in Timbaland and Ginuwine when they covered “When Doves Cry”, and with good reason-it was horrible.

Corinne does OK with this cover, it’s a bit jarring to hear her singing on something so bright and synthy. She does sound like she’s having fun though. Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think!