Collapse into Now

Collapse into Now
A black silhouette of R.E.M. (from left to right: Peter Buck, Michael Stipe, and Mike Mills) stand in front of a white background with yellow and orange lines. The words "R.E.M. / COLLAPSE / INTO / NOW" are written in black.
Studio album by
R.E.M.
ReleasedMarch 7, 2011 (2011-03-07)
RecordedNovember 2009 – September 2010
Studio
  • Hansa (Berlin)
  • Blackbird (Nashville)
  • The Music Shed (New Orleans)[1][2]
GenreAlternative rock
Length41:05
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
R.E.M. chronology
R.E.M. Live from Austin, TX
(2010) 		Collapse into Now
(2011) 		Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011
(2011)
Singles from Collapse into Now
  1. "It Happened Today"
    Released: December 20, 2010
  2. "Mine Smell Like Honey"
    Released: January 18, 2011
  3. "Überlin"
    Released: January 25, 2011
  4. "Oh My Heart"
    Released: February 1, 2011
  5. "Discoverer"
    Released: March 2011

Collapse into Now is the fifteenth and final studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on March 7, 2011, on Warner Bros. Produced by Jacknife Lee, who previously worked with the band on Accelerate (2008), the album was preceded by the singles "It Happened Today", "Mine Smell Like Honey", "Überlin" and "Oh My Heart".

Regarding the album's title, lead singer Michael Stipe noted, "It's the final thing I sing, the last song on the record before the record goes into a coda and reprises the first song. In my head, it's like I'm addressing a nine-year-old and I'm saying, 'I come from a faraway place called the 20th century. And these are the values and these are the mistakes we've made and these are the triumphs. These are the things that we held in the highest esteem. These are the things to learn from."[3]

As of September 2011, the album had sold 142,000 copies in the United States.[4] At the time of the band's breakup, bassist Mike Mills noted that the album's lyrical content contained "indications" that the band were planning to split.[5] In 2019, the band was more forthright on the hints they were making via the album: "That's the record where we put ourselves on the cover for the first time and I'm waving goodbye, and nobody got it," said Stipe in 2019. "We were saying, 'This is it, sayonara, we're out of here.'"[6]

The band did not tour to support the album and therefore never performed any of the songs in concert, although Michael Stipe did play "Every Day Is Yours to Win" without R.E.M. for the Tibethouse Annual Benefit Concert.[7]

  1. ^ Doyle, Tom. "Athens' Favourite Sons Throw Away the Manual". Q. January 2011.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference SPIN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Interview with Michael Stipe. Interview Magazine. 2011.
  4. ^ "R.E.M. Breaks Up After Three Decades, Thanks Fans for Listening" Bloomberg.com Retrieved 2011-09-26
  5. ^ Fricke, David (September 26, 2011). "Exclusive: Mike Mills on Why R.E.M. Are Calling It Quits". Rolling Stone. Straight Arrow Publishers Company, LP. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  6. ^ "R.E.M. - Monster Talk with Michael Stipe & Mike Mills, plus hosts Adam Scott & Scott Aukerman" – remhq, YouTube, November 22, 2019
  7. ^ Flaming Lips, Michael Stipe, The Roots and Patti Smith Rock for Tibet - Rolling Stone