Michael Stipe debuts new song from upcoming solo album

Friday, July 24, 2026 at 12:19 PM

Michael Stipe fans have been patiently waiting for his long-in-the works solo album, and it appears as though he's giving them a preview of what's to come. The R.E.M. frontman has just debuted a new song, "Hum Desiderata," on the sound exhibition platform Joyfully Waiting. [...]

Michael Stipe fans have been patiently waiting for his long-in-the works solo album, and it appears as though he's giving them a preview of what's to come.

The R.E.M. frontman has just debuted a new song, "Hum Desiderata," on the sound exhibition platform Joyfully Waiting.

According to the description, the song "combines Stipe's recitation of the poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann from his installation at ICA Milan" with an instrumental track by Stipe and Andy LeMaster. It also features additional vocals from artist Elizabeth Hatmaker.

The track is now streaming at joyfully-waiting.ch.

Stipe talked about his solo album during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in April, sharing that it is finally set to be released at the end of 2026. He also debuted a song from the record, "The Rest of Ever," backed by the Colbert house band, Louis Cato and The Great Big Joy Machine.

Stipe also released the song "I Played the Fool," which he recorded with producer Andrew Watt, in March. It's the theme to the HBO series Rooster.

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