Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith andPeaches on new REM album

Fri 5th Nov, 2010 in International News

R.E.M multi-instrumentalist Mike Mills, has told Spin that the band’s new album (their fifteenth!) Collapse Into Now features a more “expansive” sound than 2008’s Accelerate and some very special guests, including Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith and Peaches.

We wanted to put more variety into it and not limit ourselves to any one type of song,” Mills explained, “There are some really slow, beautiful songs; there are some nice, mid-tempo ones; and then there are three or four rockers.”

Mills added that the lyrics on the album are “very personal… Not only to [singer] Michael [Stipe], but personal and human in the sense of the narrative of the songs.”

Patti Smith, who sang on the R.E.M classic E-Bow the Letter returns to guests on the album’s closing song Blue, and her longtime collaborator Lenny Kaye contributes guitar to a track featuring vocals from Peaches. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder dropped by the studio to guest on a track titled It Happened Today.

The guest heavy 12-track record, produced by Snow Patrol and U2 producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee, is due for release in autumn.