Michael Stipe Talks New Solo Album, Meeting Taylor Swift and More in Year-Long Feature: “I Have to Finish These Songs Already”

A new profile of former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe with The New York Times Magazine focusing on his first solo work allegedly took an entire year, and the result is nothing short of eye-opening for any fan of Stipe. The feature goes in-depth into his writing and recording process, his music industry acquaintances (at one point he meets Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Phoebe Bridgers for the first time), and fond memories of his contemporaries and friends.

Of his solo project, Stipe said, “Life got in the way,” meaning 2022 was a mess of family emergencies, moving, and distractions. Stipe would sit down to work on the project, then get distracted by a flag waving in the wind outside. Or, such as in January 2022, when his uncle was hospitalized, or February when a tree flattened his car in a windstorm. He and his partner, artist Thomas Dozol, moved out of their New York apartment, then in April had to move unexpectedly a second time. “I have to finish these songs already,” he told journalist Jon Mooallem over the phone that year. “They’re driving me crazy.”

More than a year passed, until around Memorial Day 2023 when Stipe sat down and dedicated time to his solo work at Electric Lady Studios. There, he ran into Antonoff as well as Matty Healy of the 1975, and the two discussed contemporary music and pop culture while Stipe listened in, occasionally asking questions. According to the feature, Stipe approaches music differently than Antonoff or Healy, or most modern musicians; for Michael Stipe, the key to a good song was how it made his body feel, whether or not it made him move.

[RELATED: Top 11 R.E.M. Songs]

While talking with Antonoff and Healy, Stipe was open about the struggles he faced on the project. “I’m wildly insecure. I have impostor syndrome to the [expletive] max,” he admitted, sharing that he sometimes saw old clips of R.E.M. concerts and wondered how did I ever do that? “It’s hard to be in competition with your former self,” he said, sagely.

Apparently, Antonoff tried to explain that he only needs a few good songs to start feeling proud of an album as a complete project, but Stipe disagreed. For him, just one weak song is enough to tank a whole album. The Electric Lady sessions were Stipe’s first in 15 months, and his goal was to finish three songs, including his part of a duet with Courtney Love for her forthcoming LP.

The piece ends with Stipe allegedly finishing his songs—all of his songs—after being stuck in terrible writer’s block. Almost two years had passed, with various upsets, distractions, and emergencies. It had taken a toll on Stipe’s mental health and his writing process, but he made a deal with Mooallem at the end of his piece. “We can say for the piece that I finished the songs, and by God, I will finish them before the piece comes out,” he said. “How about that? Let’s leave the piece closing with: I finished the songs.”

Photo by Kevin Kane/Getty Images for UNDP