Prince launches new website, gets himself a copy of Auto-Tune

Prince has added substance to his boast that he'll release three albums in 2009 by launching a new website that features streams of three new tracks.

The site, called Lotus Flow3r (the projected name for Prince's new guitar-driven record) is seemingly still in development, and looks to be a replacement for the 3121 site that was taken down over a year ago.

However, you can already hear the songs Crimson And Clover (the Tommy James and the Shondells cover that was premiered on a US radio station late last year), (There'll Never B) Another Like Me and Here Eye Come.

(There'll Never B) Another Like Me sounds very much like it could be taken from MPLSOUND, the more electronic of the new Prince albums, and features the ubiquitous extreme Auto-Tune vocal effect that's recently been popularised by the likes of T-Pain and Kanye West.

If this is Prince "experimenting with new ways of recording", as he told The LA Times he was doing, some fans are going to be left decidedly underwhelmed.

Here Eye Come appears to be sung by new Prince protégé Bria Valente, and will presumably feature on her album when it's released.

As well as offering music, the new website will reportedly enable fans to watch videos and exclusive content and buy concert tickets.