A Look at the Songs on Michael Jackson’s New Album Xscape
Today, Michael Jackson’s new album titled Xscape will be released in the United States and Canada.
The album was released on Friday in a number of countries around the world, including Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and Turkey, and on Monday in Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates, as well as in the United Kingdom.
Some of the most newsworthy songs of recent years—songs that fans had been eagerly waiting for—will finally be released on the new album. In the album’s inner sleeve, information about the creation and recording year of each track, as well as all the lyrics, is included. In the following, we’ll take a general look at these songs.
1. Love Never Felt So Good - Love Never Felt So Good
This song is a memento from the period of Michael’s collaboration with Paul Anka and is a product of 1983. After Michael’s passing, a joint song from them titled This Is It was released.
LNFSG is described as an incredible disco track with highly emotional vocals. In the demo version of this song, which is released on the deluxe edition of Xscape, only the sound of the piano alongside Michael’s voice is used—and of course, his distinctive “breaking” sounds can also be heard. This song is brimming with feelings of longing and regret for the past.
This song was recently prepared for the new album by John McClain and Giorgio Tuinfort. Tuinfort had previously played piano on songs like Wanna be startin somethin and Hold my Hand, which were released on the 2008 album Trailer 25 and the 2010 album MICHAEL, respectively.
This song leaked on the internet in 2006.
2. She Was Lovin' Me aka Chicago - She Was Lovin' Me or Chicago
This track, with two names, is a product of the era of the Invincible album. The song was written and produced by Corey Rooney. In late March 1999, Michael recorded the track at the Hit Factory recording studio in New York.
There is another song titled Chicago 1945, which is different from the track mentioned above. Chicago 1945 was produced in the early Bad era in the 1980s.
Michael Cragg, a writer for The Guardian, wrote about the song: “Jackson is practically the creator of the dirty pop style, and this track reminds me of a time when I never saw him on stage without the presence of hip-hop beats.” Lewis Corner added: “He sings with his own distinctive roars: (She) lied to you / she lied to me.”
(“Dirty” is used in the style of hip-hop, and by “dirty pop” they mean a fusion of pop and hip-hop.)
Michael’s voice in this song oscillates from fear to beneath—like hearing his voice in Billie Jean and Dirty Diana within a single track. His voice in this track is incredibly energetic, mixed with pain and disappointment. The lyrics tell the story of Michael’s encounter with a woman who claimed she was obsessed with him.
“I saw her on the way to Chicago. And she was completely alone, and I was too. So I asked her what her name was. She smiled and looked at me. I was surprised that a woman like her was obsessed with me.”
This song’s first verse comes before the story takes on a completely different tone in the second verse.
This track has been remixed for the new album by Timbaland.
It’s worth noting that this song is one of only two tracks on the album that had not leaked earlier.
3. Loving You - Loving You
This song was written, recorded, and produced by Michael during the Bad album era in 1987.
Matt Forger said: “Michael recorded this song in another studio and brought it to me on cassette at his home studio (Hayvenhurst) so I could mix it.”
The new mix of this song was done by Timbaland.
Unlike other leaked songs, this track had never been heard before.
4. A Place With No Name - A Place With No Name
This song is Michael’s free adaptation of the song by the group America titled A Horse with No Name, released in 1972. Michael recorded this track in September 1998 together with Dr. Freeze.
Dr. Freeze, one of the producers of the song, talked about the memory of recording the track: “The day Michael came to the studio to sing the song and stood behind the microphone, he caused a commotion. He set everything on fire, and when he left the studio, that place was filled end-to-end with ashes and smoke, and our jaws were hanging. Watching him while he sang was astonishing.”
Part of this song leaked online after Michael’s death in 2009, and the full version also made its way onto the internet this fall.
5. Do You Know Where Your Children Are - Do You Know Where Your Children Are?
This song is from the era of the Dangerous album. Although Michael Jackson recorded it in 1991, its roots go back to the 1960s. The song, which has a social theme, is also known as “Twelve O’clock” or Twelve O'clock. The song leaked on the internet four years ago. Steve Lukather played guitar on this track. In 1993 interrogations, Michael had referenced this song after an accusation of plagiarism was deemed baseless.
It’s also worth noting how the song’s creation is described. Years ago, at 10 or 11 at night (Michael used 12 o’clock in his song), a public service announcement about children was broadcast on television. It asked mothers and fathers: “Do you know where your children are?” (?Do you know where your children are)
Americans from the 1960s to the 1980s saw this phrase broadcast on their televisions. Using this phrase again began in New York media in 2008, and before the news aired, stars would appear on screen and whisper the phrase to parents.
In this song, Michael Jackson presents lost family values and the crisis of child abuse in the form of lyrics. The song tells the story of a little girl who runs away from home. She leaves a note for her mother. In the letter, the girl writes that she is tired of the sexual abuse by her stepfather. In exchange for promises to buy the things the girl needed, the stepfather abused her. The song then follows the girl until she reaches Hollywood, where, on the advice of a man to get money, she turns to prostitution and is finally arrested by the police. She is only 12 years old.
Michael sings: “Do you know where your children are? It’s half past twelve midnight, and they’re out on the streets. Just imagine how scared they must be.”
Critics who had heard the song “Twelve O’clock” considered it one of the album’s strengths.
The song’s theme is similar to Hollywood Tonight, which was released in 2010 on the MICHAEL album. Of course, a portion of the lyrics of that song was censored by its producer. The story of that track is about a girl who goes to Hollywood to achieve fame. Michael had worked on the song and its music for a decade, and he had a specific intention in telling the sad, untold story of children in Hollywood.
In the second verse of Hollywood Tonight, the girl sells herself for fame while she is only 15 years old. Teddy Riley remixed the song for the album again and removed the line “She’s only fifteen,” replacing it with a line from the first verse (She’s headed for the big sign that means).
The original second verse is as follows:
6. Slave To The Rhythm - Slave To The Rhythm
This song was recorded for the Dangerous album in 1989. It was written by L.A. Reid and Babyface. It’s said that Michael completed it in 1998, nearly a decade after he began working on it. Slave To The Rhythm leaked once in 2010 and again in 2013. In that year, the illegal release of the song (News) caused a stir with Justin Bieber’s voice. Not long ago, Sony also used the song in an advertisement for its new phones, Xperia Z۲. This song has been remixed for the new album by Timbaland.
According to reports from a listening session for the Xscape album that was held exclusively for music and entertainment journalists some time ago, all the participants expressed satisfaction that Justin Bieber’s voice is not heard on this track.
(Tricky Stewart, who remixed this song in 2010 for inclusion on the MICHAEL album, gave it to Justin Bieber so he could record his vocals on it. At that time, Tricky Stewart was the head of A&R talent scouting at Epic Records and worked under L.A. Reid (who wrote the song). Stewart then handed the recorded vocals from Bieber and Michael to DJ Mix Methods and asked him to recreate the track. On August 16, 2013, the song leaked online.)
7. Blue Gangster - Sad Gangster
Blue Gangster, also known as Blue Gangsta, is another cut from the Invincible album. The song was written by Dr. Freeze. Sad Gangster was produced in 1998 during a joint recording session for A Place With No Name.
In 2006, DJ Tempamental and Press, the rapper, somehow obtained the track, recorded the rap part onto it, and released it on Tempamental’s MySpace under the title Gangsta. Later, the song changed its name to No Friend Of Mine, which was slightly different from the first version. Michael had no hand in producing these two songs. Although at the time it was mistakenly rumored that he had made these songs in collaboration with Tempamental, they were actually stolen. Michael’s representative denied Michael’s connection to these songs that same year.
Michael sings in the song: “Look what you’ve done to me—I can’t smile anymore.”
Lewis Corner, a journalist, wrote about the song: “This superstar was never lucky in love, but he never doubted the power of it.”
Timbaland has remixed this song for the new album. This track will be different from the leaked version.
8. Xscape - Escape
This song was written by Lashan Daniels, Fred, and Rodney Jerkins, and is from the era of the Invincible album. Alongside We’ve Had Enough, it was one of the most powerful songs of that period, and many were shocked by its absence from Invincible. Enough was finally released in 2004 in the Ultimate Collection set, but the fate of Escape was that it would leak onto the internet.
Xscape leaked at the beginning of 2003 and disrupted Michael’s plans. At that time, Michael was still busy finishing the track.
Daniels said about the song: “God had mercy. I had the chance to work with the biggest artist of the era, Michael Jackson. I wrote the song Invincible and You Rock My World—the first became the title track (the song that gives the album its name), and the other became the first single, plus four other songs that were included on the album. Now, a few years after Michael’s passing, this opportunity has come to me to be part of his new album, and to collaborate on a song in which I had a hand in the writing—its title track and the first single of the new album. Now, more than a decade after fans first heard this song, Xscape has finally had the chance to shine.”
The slogan for this album is: “The best thing you’ve never heard.” Although fans have been keeping leaked songs in their archives for years, these tracks are completely new to the general public. In this way, the goal of the album’s advertising slogan isn’t for Michael’s die-hard fans; it’s for the millions of people around the world who love his music and art, but don’t follow the small and big events of the music world—and are waiting for a good song to be released in stores.
Source: eMJey.com / Damien Shields