Michael Jackson’s Xscape was released on May 13th, with some saying it doesn’t really add much to the King of Pop’s legacy and others being excited that his memory lives on through ‘new’ material.
Either way, the debut single Love Never Felt So Good featuring Justin Timberlake, is a descent effort to bring Jackson’s amazing vocals back to life. The music video for the song premiered on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and it involves Justin celebrating the famous MJ dance moves along with fans.
What’s for sure is that this video will make you want to dance!
About a month ago, L.A. Reid confirmed that a new Michael Jackson album was to be released, including some of his older tracks contemporised by the producer. Now, we finally get the chance to listen to one of them and I admit it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.
At first I thought that this record would be too RnB for Michael’s legacy, given the fact that producers like Timbaland were involved in ‘contemporising’ the songs. However, Love Never Felt So Good, which also features Justin Timberlake’s vocals, is a solid effort to keep Jackson’s voice alive.
The track’s background disco beats reminded me of songs like Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough; although it is clear that they tried to make it seem like a today’s song, it somehow manages to retain the King of Pop’s identity. Of course, Justin Timberlake’s contribution creates a successful combination.
It’s amazing to realise that after all these years, Michael Jackson’s lyrics and music still seem modern. I guess it’s no surprise, though, if we take into consideration that most of his albums remain timeless, no matter how the music trends change year after year.
The King of Pop might be dead, but his voice clearly isn’t! Producer L.A. Reid confirmed that new material from Michael Jackson will be coming out this May.
According to the Rolling Stone, the Epic Records’ CEO went through Jackson’s personal four-decade archive and managed to find songs that included completed vocals. Xscape, which will be the name of the album, will include eight previously unheard tracks.
The songs will be curated by L.A. Reid, Timbaland, as well as many more producers who will give them a more ‘contemporised’ sound. Let’s hope this works, or Epic Records will have to face the rage of Jackson’s crazy fans and you don’t want to mess with that!
But even with this ‘contemporised’ version of the tracks, which I’m guessing may contain some unwanted RnB elements, I think people will be happy to just listen to Jacko sing again.
* Michael Jackson’s Xscape is due out on May 13 but it will be available online from tomorrow.
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