Collapse Into Now
Album lyrics R.E.M.

Release date: March 2011

Collapse into Now is the fifteenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., scheduled to be released on March 7, 2011, in Europe and March 8, 2011, in North America. The album is produced by Jacknife Lee and R.E.M..

R.E.M. recorded the album in three different cities—Berlin, Germany; Nashville, Tennessee; and New Orleans, Louisiana— with breaks between to write and rewrite songs. The album will feature guest appearances by Patti Smith, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Peaches, Lenny Kaye and Joel Gibb.

In comparing the record to the band's previous release, Accelerate, bassist Mike Mills has said the band "wanted this new one to be more expansive. We wanted to put more variety into it and not limit ourselves to any one type of song. There are some really slow, beautiful songs; there are some nice, mid-tempo ones; and then there are three or four rockers." He has spoken about the album's theme, saying: "It's more of a personal record than a political one. Current events do come into our mind when we write, but the themes here are more universal."

Tracklist

Album cover

R.E.M. Collapse Into Now album cover