R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe is currently recording his first solo album due out in 2023. Coming on the heels of his two solo singles, Stipe told Departures.com, “I’m collaborating with a bunch of different musicians, and each of those songs if I get my way… will be very different. I have no management.”

Stipe, who has kept a low profile since R.E.M.’s 2011 split, explained being slow to come back around to music: “When the band disbanded, I couldn’t imagine continuing with music, and it took five years before I could come back to the idea of it.”