When was the last time that Prince had a good album cover, the reissue of The Black Album? Beats the heck out of me. His purple paisley hippie-dippie outer space Photoshop filter aesthetic was tired ten years ago, and it has only seemed to get worse. Now he’s decided to visualize it in an admittedly well-made video for “Crimson and Clover,” wherein bellydancing women with scarves toss butterfly-light orbs at the screen over Bespin. Meanwhile, Prince jams underneath their silhouettes.

It looks like the opening to a Bond film that never existed mixed with an iPod, and I really don’t mean that as a compliment^*. It’s pretty, I reckon, but it’s also a snooze because, much like his Photoshop-heavy album artwork, the seams are showing. There is no subtlety or smoothness to any of it. Worse, this video does nothing to justify the song’s existence. I’m not sure what artistry Prince saw in this conflagration of Tommy James and the Troggs, but at least he gets to jam at the end. That’s the best I can say about it.

Check out Prince’s new video! [YouTube]

*The idea of Prince working within the constraints of a “Bond song” actually does excite me quite a bit. Take that idea and run with it, Broccolis!