"A very polished demo"

That's what we're saying about the "new" Michael Jackson single, This Is It, that premiered around the world yesterday (always first with the news, etc, etc).

A few other observations

:: Michael's voice sounds pure and melodic, like it used to in the pre-Jordy Chandler days, lending credence to the rumours that it's an outtake from the Dangerous sessions.

:: It's a pure and heartfelt love song, which makes it simultaneously surprising, heartbreaking and a bit creepy. How many other songs can say that?

:: The melody is very sweet but you can see why Jacko left it unfinished - it just repeats itself three or four times then fades out, whereas he liked his ballads to have a bowel-loosening crescendo (cf Earth Song, Man In The Mirror).

:: Is anyone else freaked out that there just happened to be a Jackson demo lying in the vaults with the same name as the tour he was going to put on just before he died, that was of sufficient quality to be scrubbed up and given a full release? It's not like 2Pac prophesying his death in song but I'm just saying it's weird.

:: The Jackson brothers have largely resisted the temptation to smother the piano'n'vocal demo with "meaningful" strings and gospel choirs. Nonetheless, listening to the entire song feels like jumping into a swimming pool of golden syrup and trying to swim to the other side.

:: Let's face it, we'd all rather have heard a barnstorming, whip-cracking Jacko popfest than this pish.



EXCEPT!!!!! It turns out the song was recorded previously by moderately successful Puerto Rican singer Sa-Fire in a new-jack-swing style in 1991. It was credited to Michael Jackson and Paul Anka on the sleevenotes. Even she had the wisdom to leave it as an album track. On an album that flopped. E-gads!

Sa-Fire - I Never Heard

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