This past November, Michael Stipe revealed that he’d like “to work in music again.” In an interview with the New York Times, Stipe said his eagerness to return to the music world some five years after R.E.M.’s breakup was prompted by the different David Bowie tributes he participated in last spring.
It looks as though Stipe is going to follow through with his wishes, as he’s expected to debut new material at MoogFest in May. As Pitchfork points out, an all-new solo score helmed by Stipe will serve as the soundtrack to a “never-before-seen” multimedia installation that will run throughout the entirety of the festival. The project is considered the frontman’s “first solo composition ever” and also features film that he shot in New York.
(Read: The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time)
MoogFest takes place from May 18th through May 21st in Durham, North Carolina. Other artists involved this year include Animal Collective, Flying Lotus, and Jessy Lanza.
Last year, Stipe and the rest of R.E.M. celebrated the 25th anniversary of their seminal 1991 album, Out of Time.
Watch Stipe, James Franco, and Stephen Colbert rework “It’s The End of the World” for 2016:
