George Michael’s First Posthumous Single Released — ‘This is How (We Want You to Get High)’

Several unreleased George Michael tracks will appear on the soundtrack for the upcoming film Last Christmas, starring Emilia Clarke, Emma Thompson, and Henry Golding. The first, which was recorded during his final recording sessions, has been released. Michael died on Christmas day in 2016 at the age of 53.

“This Is How (We Want You to Get High)” appears during the movie’s credits.

Rolling Stone reports: “[It] was first written in 2012 and later recorded at London’s Air Studios, with finishing touches done in 2015 during Michael’s final recording sessions. The song has an upbeat vibe, but leans on heavier topics in the lyrics. ‘So you raise another glass looking for a different space,’ Michael croons over the Latin-inspired beat. ‘I was leaning on the grass dreaming of a sunnier day/Oh it never came, how could it have baby/Where the present meets the past it’s hard to be more than we’ve seen.'”

Writes The Guardian: ‘It’s very much a product of the 2000s, both in its sound – the vocals have a liberal application of Auto-Tune – and in the fact that it’s not the kind of nailed-on, giant-chorused pop smash that Michael once turned out in profusion but were less numerous on his final studio album, 2004’s haunted and troubled Patience. This single is more compact and punchy than that album’s gauziest moments, but the mood is similar. That said, if you want poignancy, This Is How (We Want You to Get High) has plenty of it, albeit by default rather than design. “I was always trying to get my life together,” offers Michael at one point. “I guess we always knew it would be.”’