Michael Stipe stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday night, April 23rd, where the musician debuted a new song, “The Rest of Ever,” and sat down with his longtime friend to discuss his upcoming debut album.
During the interview, Stipe revealed he is writing the “final lyrics” for his first solo album, and described one of the songs as “the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time through MIDI.”
“It’s this confusing situation,” he added. “My friend recorded a tree in my backyard in Georgia and played it back to itself. And so it sounds like Daft Punk, but I’m putting, um, a sea shanty [on top of it].”
Then, as “a gift” to Colbert and the show, Stipe performed “The Rest of Ever” from his debut solo album live for the first time. He also announced the record is coming out at the end of the year and gave out 215 T-shirts to honor the entire staff and crew of The Late Show.
Elsewhere during the sitdown, Colbert asked Stipe whether there was a R.E.M. biopic in the works after they discussed recent onstage reunions. Though Stipe denied that a film is being developed, he was game to banter about who could play him at different points in his life.
After Colbert suggested David Cross for a bearded Stipe, they settled on Billie Eilish as a younger version of him, with the late-night host noting they have “similar blue eyes.”
Watch the full interview and Stipe’s debut performance of “The Rest of Ever” below.
