To tease the forthcoming 25th anniversary issue of Bad, Sony have released a previously unheard Michael Jackson track.

Titled ‘Don’t Go Messin’ ‘Round’, the track was originally written in 1983 for Thriller but didn’t make the cut. It was then re-recorded in the form you can hear here, but again overlooked for Bad.

As Jackson biographer Richard Lecocq puts it: “‘Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round’ is a track that had been in the pipelines many times. It was first considered for the Thriller album, then Bad, and then for further projects. But the version to be released is the actual mix crafted in 1987. Sound engineer Matt Forger mixed the song for the Bad 25 project and made it clear that the song will be presented ‘as is’: ‘I mixed the ‘Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round’ track from tapes of that era. No new parts were allowed, not even parts that were recorded after ’87 but still done under Michael’s supervision.’

“Composed and produced by Michael Jackson, ‘Don’t Be Messin’ Round’ is part of the demos Jackson spent enough time on to draft several strong melodic and rhythmic ideas. The chords and the rhythm of the track are quite reminiscent of the sunny and cool mid-tempo version of ‘P.Y.T’. (the original demo that surfaced in 2004 on the The Ultimate Collection box set).”

Stream it below.