Michael Stipe has a new song out today, but you won’t be able to find it on major DSPs. The R.E.M. frontman just released the track “Hum Desiderata” exclusively through Joyfully Waiting, a website for sound exhibitions which gather multi-disciplinary works that “mutually enrich each other,” per an About page. Check the song out for yourself here.
“Hum Desiderata” pairs an element from Stipe’s 2023 installation at ICA Milan—a recording of him reciting Max Ehrmann’s poem “Desiderata”—with an instrumental version of a still-unreleased track, “Hum,” from his forthcoming debut solo album. The song was written and produced with Andy Lemaster; additional vocals come from the Athens, Georgia-based artist Elizabeth Hatmaker.
This track is just the latest peek at Stipe’s new album, the title of which he has yet to publicize. He announced the project during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in April, where he performed an unreleased song called “The Rest of Ever.” Stipe also recently penned the theme song for the Steve Carrell-starring Apple TV series Rooster, “I Played The Fool,” with Andrew Watt.
Revisit the 2021 feature Michael Stipe on the Music That Made Him.
