Tom Dunne: The prospect of a Michael Stipe solo album has got me rather excited

The REM frontman has teamed up with one of my favourite producers for the upcoming record

Michael Stipe performed new music on Stephen Colbert's talk show on US television. Picture: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Wed, 29 Apr, 2026 - 22:00

Tom Dunne is a music-lover extraordinaire who, as well as presenting radio and TV shows, can also be seen in the wild as the lead singer with Something Happens.

And in the year of our lord, two thousand and twenty-six, as the seas parted and the angels proclaimed the end of days, and man kneweth the game was up, the great one came forth and said: “Behold, there will be a new Michael Stipe album by the end of the year.” So 2026, not all bad news then.

The Michael Stipe interview on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was everything I have ever loved about the man. It’s the way I like my rock stars: Enigmatic, daft as a brush, one minute singing a sea shanty, the next minute talking to trees. A man who is comfortable singing and uncomfortable at all other times.