Michael Stipe debuts new song on Colbert, says solo album will be out “at the end of the year”

Michael Stipe has been working on, and talking about, his debut solo album for years — decades? — and apparently it’s getting close to completion. He debuted a new song, “The Rest of Ever,” on Thursday night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and also talked about the album, and other things.

While the onetime R.E.M. frontman has said that electronic music is a big part of his solo album, “The Rest of Ever” fits in with the continuum of what he’s known for best. He performed it with Louis Cato and The Great Big Joy Machine and you can watch that below.

So how is the record coming along? Stipe tells Colbert he’s finishing up “final lyrics” to the album, and that one of the songs is about “the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time.” Stipe says it sounds like Daft Punk but also has misheard lyrics from classic sea shanty “What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?”

Then at the end of the interview, Stipe dropped a bomb and told Colbert that the album will be “coming out at the end of the year,” and gave him, the Late Show staff, and the audience t-shirts with what may or may not be the album cover. He didn’t say “this year” but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that “the year” means 2026. Looking forward to it!

Michael also talks about how he’s still very close with the other members of R.E.M. and that he really enjoys Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy‘s tribute band (with whom he and the rest of R.E.M. have performed). He also thinks that, if ever there was going to be a biopic about R.E.M., that Billie Eilish should play him.

You can watch the whole interview and “The Rest of Ever” performance below.

Meanwhile, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is in its final month on television — the last episode airs May 21 on CBS.