Michael Stipe Assures He’s Still Working on That Solo Album, Very Slowly

Michael Stipe reveals in a new interview that he is slowly but surely working on a solo album, his first since the dissolution of R.E.M. over a dozen years ago.

The New York Times checked in on Stipe for over a year, where unsteady progress was made on the solo LP, which the singer was hoping to release in 2023 before life stuff — family emergencies, art exhibits, a bout with Covid, apartment moves, etc. — delayed the album’s completion.

More from Rolling Stone

• R.E.M.'s Mike Mills Looks Back on 'Up': 'There Were Some Very Dark Times'

• Watch Micky Dolenz's 'Shiny Happy People' Video From His New R.E.M. Tribute Album

• The Songs That Make Thom Yorke Cry

At some point in the process, Stipe found himself at Electric Lady at the same time Taylor Swift was recording at the famed New York recording studio, leading to lengthy rooftop conversations with Jack Antonoff and the 1975’s Matty Healy — both huge R.E.M. fans — before Stipe met Swift herself. (“You must be Taylor,” Stipe said upon meeting her for the first time.)

At Electric Lady, Stipe worked on a new version of his 2019 one-off charity single “Your Capricious Soul,” as well as a still-unreleased song titled “I’m the Charge.” Additionally, the profile reveals, Stipe also recorded his part of a duet with Courtney Love for an as-of-yet-unannounced project. LCD Soundsystem drummer Pat Mahoney was also enlisted for the session.

Stipe’s “terrible” writer’s block was alleviated some following a trip to visit his mother and sister. “I have a deadline now,” he told them. “I could keep working on this record for a decade and let my insecurities get the better of me.” Another new song, “Time Keeps Changing,” was mentioned as “nearly done.”

Acknowledging the starts and stops of the solo album, Stipe signed off by telling the New York Times, “We can say for the piece that I finished the songs, and by God, I will finish them before the piece comes out. How about that? Let’s leave the piece closing with: I finished the songs.”

Over the past four years, Stipe has dripped out new music outside of his long-in-the-works solo album, including the single “Drive to the Ocean” and “No Time for Love Like Now,” a collaboration with the National’s Aaron Dessner. (Stipe’s run-ins with the National feature prominently in the NY Times piece.) However, other than a guest spot of Mykki Blanco’s “Family Ties” in early 2022, Stipe has not released any more new songs.

Best of Rolling Stone

• All 243 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked

• Carrie Underwood Was a Teenage Metalhead: Her Best Hard Rock Covers

• The Who's 50 Greatest Songs