'Lost' Michael Hutchence Single To Be Given Official ANZ Release

Long-time fans of legendary, late Australian musician Michael Hutchence will receive a well-overdue present next month when his 1997 recording Friction receives an official posthumous single release in Australia and New Zealand.

The song will step out into the world courtesy of Music Sales Australia in conjunction with the artist's Trust and co-songwriter Danny Saber, with whom Hutchence and Gang Of Four's Andy Gill created the Aussie's self-titled full-length in 1997. Hutchence's death later that year, however, would preclude its release until 1999, though a wealth of material — including the demo of Friction — would be relegated to the vaults to be forgotten.

However, Saber has spent time over the past decade revisiting the tracks contained in the archives, and decided that Friction, which is one of Hutchence's final recordings, was a song deserving of new life and fresh air.

"It was a fully formed song and it was all laid out," Saber explained of the track to Rolling Stone. "I just came back and tried to make it into something. Sonically, I know Michael would have loved it."

The song has since been broadcast on radio stations all around Europe — the UK, Germany, France, Holland, Spain, Belgium, Iceland — as well as in the US, but it'll be yours to own from all online music stores and streaming sites from Wednesday 4 November. If you really can't wait, you can hear a slice of it over at the PledgeMusic page for its original release.