Epic RecordsMichael Jackson's estate is looking to extend the King of Pop's reign.
Epic Records announced today that a new Jackson album, featuring eight "brand new" recordings mined from the late artist's archives, will be released May 13.
Called Xscape, the LP can already be preordered starting tomorrow. (And presumably this has nothing to do with April Fool's Day.)
"The title of this album honors Michael's album naming process," reads a statement posted on the label's website. "He always chose a song from the album to name his projects and, beginning with Thriller, used only one-word titles, each with an edgy quality to them. This is true of the new project."
So true.
This is not the first posthumous studio album to come from the apparent surplus of unreleased recordings that Jackson left behind. Michael, released in 2010, sold over 1 million copies and was certified platinum in the U.S.
A number of compilation box sets have been released since Jackson's death in 2009 as well, not including the soundtrack to the 2009 concert documentary This Is It, the soundtrack to Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour and the 25th-anniversary reissue of Bad that came out in 2012.
For Xscape, executive producer and Epic Records CEO L.A. Reid "teamed up top producers to 'contemporize' the songs while retaining Jackson's essence and integrity, creating the best music you've never heard," the label states.
John McClain and John Branca, the longtime coexecutors of Jackson's estate said in a statement: "Michael was always on the cutting edge and was constantly reaching out to new producers, looking for new sounds. He was always relevant and current. These tracks, in many ways, capture that spirit. We thank L.A. Reid for his vision."
McClain is listed as a producer, along with Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins and Stargate.