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Last night, in the basement of a swanky West London an excitable Sony big-wig and, for some reason, Trevor Nelson presented the first album playback of the new Michael Jackson album.
Tight security measures meant everyone in the room, including Mixmag, had their phones confiscated to prevent the album leaking before its mid May release. "We're so sorry, we know it massively takes the piss" gushed the Sony fat-cat.
So what was all the fuss about? Xscape is Jackson’s second posthumous album following the 2010 album, Michael. You’ll be forgiven for not remembering that one; it had Akon and 50-Cent on for crying out loud.
So what makes Xscape different is the way it’s been put together. CEO of Epic Records and ex Def Jam and American X Factor judge, LA Reid, assembled a A-list team of producers including lead producer Timbaland, alongside Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, Jerome 'J-Roc' Harmon and John McClainto. All had worked with Michael in previous years and importantly none of them were Will.i.am.
The eight tracks on the album have been put together using unused vocals, unreleased records and tracks that just missed out inclusion on previous Jackson's albums. The source material dates back 40 years!
The word ‘contemporise’ was being used a lot before the playback which had us worried. Would this holy shroud-esque source material be ravaged by Black Eye Pea style pitch shifts or garish bro-step drops? Admittedly one track started with a vocoder but this was only for the intro. From the off-set the album had sharp beats and clear vocals – something even big fans would admit Michael’s latter albums lacked.
Despite this broad range of unreleased content, Xscape doesn’t feel like a bunch of off-shoots or a scrapbook of the discarded; the production team have managed to gell the collection of tunes in such a way that this feels like a flowing album of funky, disco-pop and modern day r ‘n’ b.
Some of the tracks felt familiar – one track has a very similar bassline to ‘Leave Me Alone’, another had a ‘la la la’ chorus not unlikeAmerica’s ‘Horse With No Name’ and penultimate track ‘Gangster’ had Jackson’s trademark voiced beats and harmonies, a la ‘Beat It’.
Xscape, then, feels more like a collection of B-sides from Off The Wall than a follow up to Invincible. Despite being very short, this latest release from the Jackson estate does a much more sympathetic job of recreating and reminding the world of the pop icon’s passion for making your feet tap and your head nod. Consider this a collection of undiscovered gems presented in a way that fans from all generations will appreciate.
Xscape can be pre-ordered now but will be released on Epic on May 13.
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