By 1995, Michael Hutchence was a global superstar, propelled by the mammoth success of his band, Sydney’s own INXS. However, the only band on his mind was Black Grape, the chart-topping comeback project of Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder.
At the time, Hutchence lived in an upscale area of London and his neighbours were slowly getting used to hearing the sounds of Black Grape’s debut, It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah, blasting out of his home on repeat.
“Bono told me they could always hear him cranking Black Grape coming up the hill,” producer Danny Saber, who broke through with Black Grape and went on to work with artists like the Rolling Stones, Public Enemy, and U2, tells Rolling Stone. “They knew it was him from three miles away.”
When Hutchence decided to begin work on his own solo project, he tapped Saber and Gang of Four’s Andy Gill. Together, the trio created the self-titled Michael Hutchence. The record was on the verge of completion in 1997, but in November the singer passed away.
The album was eventually released in 1999. “It was pretty much done when he died,” says Saber. “It just needed to be mixed. It took about a year before I could even listen to it or think about it.” In the ensuing decade, Saber began to revisit more of Hutchence’s final recordings.
Among the recordings was a demo called ‘Friction’, the result of a previous writing session. “It was a fully formed song and it was all laid out,” says Saber. “I just came back and tried to make it into something. Sonically, I know Michael would have loved it.”
As Stereogum reports, Hutchence’s website shared a preview of the track back in 2011, but it was soon deleted. However, it now appears the song will see a release in an exceedingly strange and novel way – via a T-shirt.
Astrella, the daughter of folk legend Donovan, has a T-shirt line called Musical T’s. Each T-shirt contains album art and a small QR code. If you scan the QR code with your phone, you’re then able to listen to the pictured LP.
[include_post id=”434051″]
‘Friction’ is now available exclusively with purchase of one of Astrella’s T-shirts. More details can be found over at Astrella’s PledgeMusic page, however you can also stream the full track over at Astrella’s site.
“These days, you’ve gotta find an angle,” says Saber, who is currently playing with House of Dolls and directing a documentary about a group of musicians visiting Cuba. He’s hoping the song will lead to a renewed interested in Hutchence’s work.
“When it comes to being a frontman, there was nobody better at it than him,” Saber adds. “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.” Readers can check out a short clip of ‘Friction’ below.
