The Estate of Michael Jackson and Epic Records confirmed today that the lead single from the upcoming ‘XSCAPE’ album will be the John McClain and Giorgio Tuinfort co-produced early-80s demo “Love Never Felt So Good”.
“Get ready for the premiere of the first #MJXSCAPE single, “Love Never Felt So Good” on Thursday!” reads the post made by the “official” Michael Jackson Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The track, originally written in 1980 (as per U.S. Copyright filing) by Jackson, Paul Anka and Kathy Wakefield, will make its debut during the inaugural iHeart Radio Music Awards, to be held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
“Love Never Felt So Good” was touted by reporter Kevin Hughes as: “An amazing 1983 disco groove,” with “a soulful vocal, infectious baseline and orchestral strings,” in his review for The Mirror. The track,which has been likened to 2013 Daft Punk mega-hit “Get Lucky” and Jackson’s own 1979 classic “Rock With You”, would apparently not sound out of place on a Pharrell album. A French review hyped “Love Never Felt So Good” as: “A power track completely calibrated for your summer,” adding that the track was: “Big disco funk,” with a galactic groove spirit. Lewis Corner of Digital Spy says that the track comes complete with: “1980s disco beats and crisp finger clicks,” adding that “the groove of the track is soaked in nostalgia.”
The iHeart Radio Music Awards will air live on NBC from 8pm PST featuring performances by Drake, Pharrell, Kendrick Lamar, Pitbull, Shakira, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Ariana Grande, Arcade Fire and Ed Sheeran.
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Damien Shields is the author of the book Michael Jackson: Songs & Stories From The Vault examining the King of Pop’s creative process, and the producer of the podcast The Genesis of Thriller which takes you inside the recording studio as Jackson and his team create the biggest selling album in music history.
