Almost two decades after the death of beloved INXS frontman and Australian icon Michael Hutchence, one of the singer’s previously unreleased solo tracks, entitled Friction, has been released online.
As Rolling Stone reports, the new wave, very INXS-style tune was a demo leftover from the recording sessions of the singer’s self-titled solo album, which was released in 1999, two years after his tragic death in a Sydney hotel room.
Hutchence had been working on the LP with Gang of Four’s Andy Gill and Black Grape producer Danny Saber, the latter of whom began revisiting the Friction demo in the decade following its release.
“It was a fully formed song and it was all laid out,” Saber told Rolling Stone. “I just came back and tried to make it into something. Sonically, I know Michael would have loved it.”
In a partnership with fashion designer Astrella, daughter to Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Donovan, Saber has released Hutchence’s first solo recording in 15 years via her famed hybrid T-shirt collection, MUSICAL T’s.
The long-lost song can be streamed free here and downloaded by purchasing one of Astrella’s Michael Hutchence musical T-shirts.
“These days, you’ve gotta find an angle,” Saber explained, telling Rolling Stone that he hopes the new recording will help renew interest in the legendary Australian frontman’s work.
“When it comes to being a frontman, there was nobody better at it than him,” he said. “When I was working on his solo record, I met Jagger through him and I met Bono through him. The fact that I was working with Michael gave me so much credibility with them. They all watched him, especially Bono. He sort of got written off into this tabloid-y guy, and it’s not quite right.”
Watch: Bono & The Edge – Stuck In A Moment Tribute To Michael Hutchence On Letterman
