Michael Stipe Shares Details on Debut Solo Album: Tree Sounds, Sea Shanties & Daft Punk Vibes

Michael Stipe says he is adding the finishing touches to his debut solo album, which will feature an eclectic mix of sounds including a song incorporating the recording of a tree in his Georgia backyard played back to itself, blended with a sea shanty and reminiscent of Daft Punk.

Stipe revealed details of the album during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he explained that one track features the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time, created by playing back a recording of a tree in his yard. He described the effect as sounding like Daft Punk, to which he is adding a sea shanty.

When Colbert asked which sea shanty he was using, Stipe said it was “the most familiar that everyone knows” before breaking into a rendition of ‘Drunken Sailor’. He noted that the tree has not yet responded to the sound, adding, “We’re gonna let his people get back to my people and see what happens.”

Stipe also shared that he wrote a special lyric after mishearing the original ‘Drunken Sailor’ song, singing alternate lines including: “Tie him to the mast and shave his belly, Tie him to the mast and shave his belly,” and: “Duct tape donkey ears, jelly wellies, earl-eye in the morning.”

The singer has been working on his first solo album for several years since R.E.M. Split amicably in 2011, having previously released only a handful of solo tracks, including the 2019 single ‘Your Capricious Soul’, ‘Drive To The Ocean’ in 2020, and a collaboration with Aaron Dessner’s Big Red Machine titled ‘No Time For Love Like Now’ also in 2020.

Last month, Stipe said the album’s progress had “taken longer than I wanted,” attributing the delay to the pressure of living up to the high bar set by his work with R.E.M. He explained in a March interview with The Times that the process had been “near impossible” due to his desire for the solo record to match the quality of R.E.M.’s output.

Stipe noted that while the Covid-19 pandemic did not help the timeline, he took a break after the band split before returning to music in 2019. He said he spent five years working on the album but was pulled back into other projects, calling the overall experience “a struggle” driven by his insecurity and high standards.

In recent months, Stipe has collaborated with producer Andrew Watt, Josh Klinghoffer, and Travis Barker on the theme song for the comedy series Rooster. He also joined Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy for performances at their ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’ 40th anniversary tour shows in Brooklyn, where they played versions of R.E.M.’s ‘These Days’ and ‘The Great Beyond’.

Stipe remains on good terms with his former R.E.M. Bandmates — Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry — having appeared with them in summer 2024 at their induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, where the quartet performed a surprise acoustic rendition of ‘Losing My Religion’, their first live performance together since 2007.

At the ceremony, the former bandmates dismissed hopes of a full reunion, stating it “would never be as good,” a sentiment Stipe echoed in a prior interview with CBS News.