R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe gives update on long awaited debut solo album

In a 2023 New York Times article, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe opened up about his long-in-the-works solo album. Well, fans are still waiting on that album, and now Stipe’s giving them another update on the project.

In an interview with the U.K. Times, Stipe says the album has “taken longer than I wanted,” noting, “Covid didn’t help, but I’m finishing it.”

R.E.M. broke up in 2011, and Stipe tells the paper that after that he “just needed a break,” adding, “I took five years but I got pulled back into music.”

“It’s been a struggle. That’s the main thing,” he says of the album. “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,” he says of the album. “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.”

It sounds like Stipe has plenty of work to do, with the article noting he still has lyrics to complete on eight songs before the album’s done, although he’s hoping to have it out before the end of the year.

As for the title, Stipe says he hasn’t settled on one yet, noting, “But I did think about Meet THE Michael Stipe.”

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