Stevie Wonder Releases Four Unheard 'Key of Life' Tracks — SkimNews
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- Stevie Wonder surprise-released "Songs in the Key of Life 50: The EP," containing four previously unreleased studio recordings — "It's Easier," "My Life Story of Love," "I Can See the Sun in Late December," and "I'm Into Livin'" — held from the 1976 sessions for half a century.
- The EP arrived on streaming services at 4:54 a.m. PDT, the exact time the original "Songs in the Key of Life" sessions wrapped on Sept. 28, 1976 — when bassist Nathan Watts remarked "Fo'FiftyFo'," an in-joke Wonder and his musicians have used to mark the end of sessions ever since.
- Original album engineers John Fischbach and Gary O. Adante (credited as Gary Olazabal) mixed the new EP tracks, with Wonder playing most instruments himself, alongside contributors including Gregory Phillinganes (Rhodes), Nathan Watts (bass), and backup vocalists Shirley Brewer, Thelma Houston, and Deniece Williams.
- Wonder announced a fall world tour performing all 17 songs from the original double album, kicking off Oct. 13 in Birmingham, England and wrapping Dec. 19 in Los Angeles.
- "Songs in the Key of Life" was released Sept. 28, 1976, is diamond-certified, and ranks No. 4 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, praised for its range from the joy of "Isn't She Lovely" to the social commentary of "Village Ghetto Land."
- The four tracks carry the album's themes of love and life: "It's Easier" is an upbeat breakup song, "My Life Story of Love" (co-written with the Supremes' Susaye Greene) finds Wonder pledging to win his love back, and "I'm Into Livin'" is a jazzy funk ballad celebrating love.
Why it matters: Wonder is giving fans four finished songs that have sat in the vault since 1976 — a rare release from an artist who guards his catalog closely — and tying the EP to a full-album world tour that re-centers a diamond-certified No. 4 greatest album for a new generation of listeners starting this October.
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