A secret Amy Winehouse album is to be released in December.
The 27-year-old singer was found dead in July, with a coroner citing her death as a misadventure last week.
Since her passing there have been rumours she left a number of previously-unheard songs behind, and her family have now confirmed the speculation is true.
The record is called Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures, and will hit stores on December 5. It includes a song Amy wrote while on heroin and another about her ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil allegedly being unfaithful.
“I spent so much time chasing after Amy - telling her off - that I never realised what a true genius she was,” the star’s father Mitch Winehouse told British newspaper The Sun during a special playing of the album.
“It wasn't until I sat down with the rest of the family and listened to this album that I fully appreciated the breadth of her talent. From jazz standards to hip-hop songs, it took my breath away.”
The album includes 12 new tracks. Mitch hadn’t heard some of them until after Amy died.
Her mother Janis has also listened to the songs, but decided to do so alone as she felt it was such a personal experience.
“One of the new songs on the album, Halftime, I'd never heard before. It is just incredibly beautiful,” Mitch added. “Had the family felt this album wasn't up to the standard of Amy's others, Frank and Back To Black, we'd never have agreed to release it. We believe it will stand as a fitting tribute to her musical legacy.”
Producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson have been working on the record over the last few weeks. Mark especially was good friends with Amy.
There were thousands of hours of the late star singing for the pair to wade through.
“When I listened back you would hear some of the conversations in between — that was emotional. It has been hard, but it has also been an amazing thing. Amy was a gifted girl,” Salaam said. “I believe she has left something beyond her years. She has put a body of work together that will inspire an unborn generation.”
Among the tracks featured are a cover of Leon Russell’s A Song For You, which Amy recorded as she was struggling with her drug addiction.
She sang Between The Cheats as she was ending her marriage to Blake, while The Girl From Ipanema was recorded in 2002.
Amy’s family have set up a foundation in her name, with £1 from every sale of the new record going to the charity.
Last week’s inquest found Amy was five times over the legal UK drink drive alcohol limit when she died. No illegal drugs were found in her system.
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