R.E.M. Bang on New Album - Stipe promises a chaotic, political album

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

R.E.M. Bang on New Album

Stipe promises a chaotic, political album for October



R.E.M. will release their thirteenth album in October, just before the presidential election. And Michael Stipe wouldn't have it any other way.
"For better or worse, the current state of the world has had a profound impact on the way I'm writing," says the singer, who is in the midst of finishing up the record in Miami with guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills. "But this isn't a downer of a record. Even the most depressing R.E.M. song is going to have a glimmer of hope in it. That's just me, I can't help myself. But there's some stuff on here that's pretty hard-core, and fairly political."

The political tracks include a fleshed-out version of the Internet-only release "Final Straw," which was written prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and "I'm Gonna DJ," about the 1999 World Trade Organization riots in Seattle, but the Iraqi war served as the creative impetus for much of the new material.

"At this time, as an American, I feel like the angriest pacifist in the world, and I don't think I'm alone in that," says Stipe. "It's not an easy time to live through.

R.E.M. dabble in more than just politics, as Stipe characterizes "Leaving New

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