Even Michael Jackson haters must be intrigued as to what the recently deceased pop-stars new single was going to sound like. There was a very good chance it wasn’t going to be very good, what with MJ not being around long enough to completely finish it and polish it to an androgynous sheen.
And so, the radio and the internet was treated with newbie, ‘Breaking News’, which will be taken from Michael Jackson’s forthcoming album ‘Michael’ which will be available to buy December 14th on Epic.
But is it any good?
There was a palpable worry that any new material might sound half-baked and under-nourished, for all the world sounding like some bedroom demo. As interesting as these curios are (for example, the demo of ‘Billie Jean’ on the Thriller reissue), they’re never going to trouble a chart.
Worse still, ‘Breaking News’ could’ve sounded like someone else had cobbled it together. Just look at the topplingly average ‘Free As A Bird’ that The Beatles stuck out years ago.
However, and this is rather surprising, ‘Breaking News’ is actually rather fun and (whisper it), quite good.
For too long, Jackson has been keen to have a serious message in his songs, which of course, means that ‘seriousness’ equates to ‘overly long ballad’. Yet, it seems that Jackson should’ve given in to his anger some time ago.
In this new cut, Jackson has an accusatory tone to his voice not seen since ‘Leave Me Alone’. Picking up on that theme, the video for ‘Leave Me Alone’ saw Jackson addressing his media critics over a song that… well… wasn’t about ‘the papers’, but rather, a woman who was bugging him. However, ‘Breaking News’ directly points and angry finger at an artist who feels backed into a corner.
It’s actually refreshing to hear Jackson so nakedly pissed off for once and, you have to wonder if it took his death for someone to force the hand of the situation and actually stick this song out. Perhaps Jackson was just too meek to ever throw this at his detractors while alive?
And apparently, Stateside, there have been complaints that the track isn’t as full and rich as fans would’ve hoped – but the flipside to this is that it’s actually pretty cool to hear Jackson doing his thing – his ‘thing’ incidentally is making pop music rather than being an ambassador for some altruistic motive – without the constant studio meddling that, sure, made some tracks great… but others sound too fussy.
The track starts with a patchwork of faux news reports, before breaking into a jam that is not unlike a Neptunes cut (which prompts the notion of how great a Neptunes/Jackson tag-team would have actually been if Justin Timberlake hadn’t got there first). It’s pretty bare, but to our eyes, that’s a good thing. It’s got that weird digital funk of ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin”, albeit with a bit more swing, rather than a linear synthpop groove.
And what is interesting is how Jackson’s range is a little lower with age – a move that will no doubt see certain quarters debating whether it is Jackson at all. But, assuming it is him, it’s good to see that, when he was still around, he was still capable of making throwaway pop records that don’t concern themselves too much with the world at large. Michael Jackson was always at him best when he sang about himself or nothing at all (‘Billie Jean’, ‘Rock With You’, ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’).
While it is a bit odd to hear Michael Jackson singing about himself in the third person, it is fun to hear that he was still capable of making pop music for pop music’s sake (the single best reason to make a pop record). He sounds more at ease in the booth and gone is the clawing, dripping with sentimentality singer that many just couldn’t muster up the interest to care about properly. ‘You Are Not Alone’ or ‘Earth Song’ never got played in clubs in favour of ‘Beat It’, did it?
Which leaves hecklerspray with the uncharacteristic feeling of enjoying Michael Jackson’s presence for once. When you hear a track like this, you wonder what he had up his sleeve. Forget all the dubious private life stuff for a second (so we don’t have to point out the many wrong-doings of hundreds of pop-stars you like) and look at this track for what it is.
A catchy-as-mumps pop song that shows what Michael Jackson should have been doing all this time. Have a listen…
Bobby Bisciglia says
I don’t like the new song. I think it’s very weak next to his older material. I may have liked it better if it was sung by another artist with a weaker overall catalogue but for me, next to his other material, this one goes towards the bottom of the list.
Stevenhall says
This reviewer has clearly never listened to HIStory disc 2. You’re missing out dude.
Bobby says
A killer collaboration would’ve been Michael Jackson and Timberland. I’m thinking the reason why Jackson’s vocals are a little more subdued is probably because this wasn’t a final product. There’s a demo of “Billie Jean” on the “Thriller” special edition where he’s just practicing a song. It’s a lot different than the final song.