Michael Stipe’s Debut Solo Album Almost Has a Release Date

Michael Stipe wasn’t kidding when he told the New York Times Magazine in 2023 he was “in no rush” to release his long-awaited first solo album. Four years after its initially teased premiere date, the former R.E.M. singer-songwriter has finally revealed when it’s coming in an interview with the LA Times: the first single arrives New Year’s Eve of this year, with the as-yet-untitled LP debuting in May 2027. Also, per Stipe, “five seconds into the new year, there will be a new song with a video setting up the album.” Earlier this year, Stipe debuted a song from the project called “The Rest of Ever” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.Stipe is working with resident rock-icon whisperer Andrew Watt on the album, along with Andy LeMaster and “a gallery of thieves,” he told the Times. “Andy and I are in the studio for three days mixing some of the songs that he and I have worked on together,” he said. “I think the rest of it should be a little bit of a surprise.” Stipe also added some vague details about the album’s politics (or lack thereof). “I was talking to someone about the record over dinner—they haven’t heard a single note of it…and they said, ‘It’s political?’ I said, ‘No, not a...