R.E.M’s Michael Stipe performed a new solo track, ‘The Rest Of Ever’ while appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
The track is from the singer’s upcoming album, The Times, which he has been reportedly working on for several years, and will be released at some stage this year, which he said: “One of the songs is the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time,” he said. “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]”.
Stipe performed this track as he appeared alongside the house band, Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine.
The singer was also asked by Colbert which sea shanty it was, to which he replied: “It’s the most familiar that everyone knows,” before breaking into ‘Drunken Sailor’.
“The tree has not responded yet,” Stipe added. “We’re gonna let his people get back to my people and see what happens”.
On the album’s initial delay in March, Stipe previously explained: “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”.
“So it’s f****** exciting but also terrifying, and I’m doing the music for the first time too, and I think I’m good at it but not great,” the singer added. “But I love my voice. I don’t like my speaking voice but I love my singing voice, and I so want to immerse myself back into offering music to the world”.
Check out this live performance below.
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