Album – Collapse Into Now (2011)
Highlight – Überlin
Reason – Accelerate showed that REM still had glimpses of life left in them, albeit the sound of a band pushing against the onward ravages of time, baldness and the paunch. For ‘Collapse they expanded their sound, once again rehearsing and recording in different studios and taking breaks between live shows to write more songs,.
The result was an album of new songs, that called back to much of their earlier work. Out Of Time, Monster, Green all got shouts, especially the Country Feedback-sounding Blue. Überlin was classic Neo-REM, honed musically through all their years of experience an featuring some chirpy, pseudo-hip Stipe suggesting much depth.
It was, in hindsight, the sound of a band about to split. They almost had during the Hi-Fi & Up days, lyrics hinted at a band pulling itself apart. But this time at the end of their 5-album Warner Brothers deal; in a world where albums had ceased to become pre-eminent and videos made by 18 year-olds the dominant force, it was maybe the right decision to call it a day before their creative powers were spent any further.
Stipe Gayness Factor – 9. Walk It Back, one of the warmer, sincere and grown-up songs from the post-closet Stipe days, provides an fascinating counterpoint to the confused, mumbly lush of his younger days. Thank you Michael, it’s been great watching you grow up on record.
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