R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe says he’s adding the finishing touches to his debut solo album, which includes an eclectic assortment of sounds. Find all the details below.
The singer has only released a handful of songs under his own name since his former band split amicably in 2011, but he has been working on his first solo album for several years.
Last month, he gave some significant updates on the record’s progress, saying it has “taken longer than I wanted”, and explaining that the “pressure” from the “high bar” of being in R.E.M. had delayed the process.
Now, he’s shared even more details, explaining the eclectic range of sounds it’s set to include. During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Stipe said he was “writing the final lyrics” for the album.
“One of the songs is the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time,” he said, adding, “It’s this confusing situation. My friend recorded a tree in my backyard in Georgia and played it back to itself, and so it sounds like Daft Punk, but I’m putting a sea shanty [in the song].”
Colbert then asked which sea shanty it was, to which Stipe said, “It’s the most familiar that everyone knows,” before breaking into ‘Drunken Sailor’.
“The tree has not responded yet,” Stipe then said when asked how the tree reacted to the sound. “We’re gonna let his people get back to my people and see what happens.”
He went on to add that he did write “a very special lyric” after mishearing the original ‘Drunken Sailor’ song, singing: “Tie him to the mast and shave his belly, Tie him to the mast and shave his belly,” and: “Duct tape donkey ears, jelly wellies, earl-eye in the morning.” Check out the full clip below.
Speaking about the album’s delay in March, Stipe said: “Covid didn’t help, but I’m finishing it. When the band split, I just needed a break. I took five years but I got pulled back into music. It’s been a struggle. That’s the main thing. I want it to be great, but I’ve got the pressure of having been in R.E.M. and it’s a high bar, because I want this to be as good as that, and that’s near impossible.”
Previous Stipe solo releases include the 2019 single ‘Your Capricious Soul’ and ‘Drive To The Ocean’ the following year. He also released ‘No Time For Love Like Now’ with Aaron Dessner’s Big Red Machine in 2020.
Last month, he also joined forces with Andrew Watt, Josh Klinghoffer and Travis Barker to share the new theme song for the show Rooster.
By all accounts, Stipe remains on good terms with his former R.E.M. bandmates – guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry – and they appeared together in summer 2024 when they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The band split amicably in 2011, while Berry had left the group during the height of their commercial success in 1997. However, at the ceremony, the quartet gave a surprise acoustic performance of their 1991 classic ‘Losing My Religion’. That marked the first time the four played live together since their 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Ahead of the ceremony, the band gave a rare interview to CBS News, and dismissed any hopes of coming back together for a full-blown reunion – saying “it’d never be as good”.
Last month, Stipe joined Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy at one of their ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’ 40th anniversary tour shows in Brooklyn. They played versions of R.E.M.’s ‘These Days’ and ‘The Great Beyond’. A year ago, he also sang ‘Pretty Persuasion’ with them.
Stipe has also been clarifying lyrics from ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’ on Bluesky, revealing that many fans have been getting some of the lines wrong for decades.
The post Trees, sea shanties and Daft Punk: R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe on adding the finishing touches to his debut solo album appeared first on NME.