When Michael Jackson’s new album Xscape was announced back at the end of March the reaction was muted. Epic had already released one posthumous album, 2010’s Michael, pieced together from outtakes and polished up by contemporary producers and the uninspired, mercenary-feeling results (not to mention the rumors that Jackson hadn’t actually sung on some of the songs) just sort of underlined how gruesome and fucked up the entire situation around his death had been. Going back to that well a second time just seemed gross.
Epic is releasing “Love Never Felt So Good” in a few different forms: the original 1983 demo, Timbaland’s new rework, Timbaland’s version with a verse by frequent Michael Jackson impersonator Justin Timberlake, and an electro remix by Fedde Le Grande. The Timberlake duet version just debuted at number 20 on the Hot 100. It’s possible that this could be an early peak driven by true believers streaming it on a loop, but it seems more likely that this is just the beginning. “Love Never Felt So Good” certainly feels like a legitimate Michael Jackson single from back when that mattered. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see it perform like one.
