/ 19 April 2006

Beleaguered King of Pop back in studio

Michael Jackson has returned to the studio and plans to release a new album next year, a Bahrain-based record label said.

The label, 2 Seas Records, which is owned by Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad al Khalifa, son of Bahrain’s king, said on Tuesday that it had signed an exclusive recording agreement with the beleaguered king of pop. It said an album was tentatively scheduled for release late in 2007.

Jackson (47) moved to the Gulf state soon after being acquitted of child-molestation charges in California last year.

”I am incredibly excited about my new venture and I am enjoying being back in the studio making music,” Jackson said in a statement released in London on behalf of the record label.

The label — which is due to release Jackson’s long-promised Hurricane Katrina benefit single, I Have This Dream — said British music executive Guy Holmes had been named chief executive of the company. It said Holmes would oversee the making of the new album ”and the management of Michael’s other business interests”.

Jackson has been plagued by financial problems since his trial. Last month he closed the house on his 1 050ha Neverland ranch estate in California, laying off most of the staff after agreeing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages to avoid a lawsuit by state labour officials. Last week he agreed to restructure his finances in a deal with Sony Corporation, which shares ownership with Jackson of a valuable music catalogue that includes the Beatles’ hits.

No details of the agreement were released, but earlier published reports said Jackson was negotiating a debt-refinancing plan that would save him from bankruptcy, but deprive him of part of his share of the catalogue. — Sapa-AFP