Amy Winehouse banned 'a dozen' unfinished songs from release

At least "a dozen" unfinished Amy Winehouse songs will never be released, according to executives from her record label.

Despite the pending release of Lioness: Hidden Treasures, the singer's first posthumous compilation, many unfinished tracks will be kept locked in Island Records' archive. "We've had to qualify [Lioness] in front of Amy's family. Her mum, her dad, her brother – that's her very vocal, protective brother – plus fiances, stepfathers and more," Island's Darcus Beese told Music Week magazine. Beese has defended the premise of the new 12-track album – "She'd tell you … 'I fucking wrote the songs. People should fucking hear them'" – but insists there are songs the singer did not want released. These, Beese promised, will remain in the vault.

Although Island will respect Winehouse's wishes, they maintain the unreleased tracks are of a high standard. "Everyone who hears [the song] Procrastinate loves it," said label boss Ted Cockle. Beese agreed, saying it's a favourite among execs. But he also emphasised the song will never reach the public. "If you ever hear Procrastinate, you have my permission to come into my offices here in Kensington and fire me," he said.

There's just one problem with this: a version of Procrastinate leaked years ago. More than a million people have listened to the sleepy pop tune on YouTube, where it appears under the name Procrastination.Further unreleased titles rumoured to exist include Detachment, Gutter, and a song called Our Souls Ain't Sold. According to producer Salaam Remi, Winehouse was also hoping to release a jazz album with saxophone player Soweta Kinch and the Roots' Questlove. "She had written down everything she wanted to do," he told the Associated Press.

Lioness: Hidden Treasures is due 5 December