Amazingly, R.E.M. have released one of their finest records after 30 years.
For music aficionados, an exceptional record from a veteran rock band is just as exciting as the discovery of a thrilling debut. Amazingly, R.E.M. have released one of their finest records after 30 years. Sure, it’s not (and couldn’t be) as groundbreaking as their first two albums, Murmur (1983) and Reckoning (1984), nor is it as potent as the classics – Document (1987) and Automatic For The People (1992) – but R.E.M.’s 15th album, Collapse Into Now, remains a highpoint in the Georgia alt-rock band’s extraordinary career.
Collapse Into Now ‘s dynamic predecessor, Accelerate (2008), surprised and invigorated following the ballad-driven, mawkish affair that was their 13th album, Around The Sun. The political statements that Michael Stipe made amidst the sappiness/stagnant arrangements of Around The Sun have transformed into emphatic ones on both Accelerate and Collapse Into Now, more potently on the latter. R.E.M.
15th album finds Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills writing with both a revitalised and heartfelt propensity – one that elicits profound rock anthems, stirring revelatory ballads, and utterly confounds by delivering one of the band’s most breathtaking compositions.
Collapse Into Now opens with a rather apt statement in Discoverer. The lyric of "Just the slightest bit of finesse / Might have made a little less mess / But it was what it was / Let’s all get on with it, now" could easily relate to R.E.M.’s acceptance that Accelerate and Collapse Into Now have irrefutably emboldened the band following a few lacklustre affairs. All The Best is a stately and striking rock anthem – Stipe’s raw grit is immediately invigorating as he exclaims "Let’s show the kids how to do it / Fine, fine, fine".
Überlin espouses the kind of profundity that Stipe was aiming for on Around The Sun – a reflective ode to chasing dreams in the face of adversity. From the opening line of "Hey now, take your pills" to "I am flying on a star into a meteor tonight / I will make it through the day and then the day becomes the night", it reasserts the compelling return of Stipe at his most inspiring and comforting. The warm strains of Buck’s mandolin and a gorgeous horn arrangement adorn Oh My Heart – a moving realisation of one’s abode as Stipe sings with stunning grace and fluidity: "This place needs me here to start / This place is the beat of my heart".
The album also features several notable guests: Eddie Vedder and Joel Gibb provide additional vocals to It Happened Today; Lenny Kaye contributes guitar to Blue and Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter, the latter of which also features Peaches on backing vocals. Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter invokes Orange Crush in the "bizarre but contagious, nonetheless" sense; additionally, it evokes Stipe’s shameless predisposition and lack of concern for what it is to be "cool". However, it’s Patti Smith’s contributions that prove (again) most poignant. Blessed with Smith’s presence on Discoverer and Blue, it’s the latter that elicits the record’s most profound moment.
Blue – Collapse Into Now‘s final track – is simply remarkable and the album’s most distinctive offering. Its fuzzy, reverb-drenched guitars and stream-of-consciousness commentary recall the brilliant Country Feedback (from 1991’s Out Of Time), but matches piercing melancholy with transcendental revelation. From Stipe’s running commentary (lines like "Allow air, window open, drift away, into now") to Smith’s mournful cry of "Cinderella boy, your coach awaits", it’s a mesmerising affair. Collapse Into Now is not merely a return to top form, it’s a powerful and emotional triumph. Stipe is still one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest – and most genuine – heroes.
Best Track: Blue
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Automatic For The People R.E.M., Accelerate R.E.M., Horses PATTI SMITH.
In A Word: Inspiring.
