New Radiohead, R.E.M. Albums In The Works

Russell Hall |
05.19.2009

Both Radiohead and R.E.M.

are in the initial phases of recording new studio albums.

Speaking recently to London’s BBC, Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood said the band is working with producer Nigel Godrich on the follow-up to 2007’s In Rainbows.

“It’s at the stage where we’ve got the big Lego box out and we’ve tipped it out on the floor and we're just looking at all the bits and thinking what’s next?" Greenwood said. "I'm very impressed and grateful for Nigel our producer and his ability to make it all sound vaguely plausible.”

Greenwood offered an additional tidbit to NME.com, saying, “It's really cool and everything is sounding great. It’s early days and it is a bit like having a scrapbook at the moment because everything is up in the air, but it's good to be back in the studio."

The bassist gave no details regarding a target release date, nor did he say what business model the band would choose to make the album available. In Rainbows was initially offered to fans on a “pay-what-you-choose” basis.

As regards to R.E.M., Pitchfork.com reports that guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills have been recording demos with producer Tucker Martine overseeing the tracks. Jacknife Lee, who produced the band’s Accelerate album, is slated to take over full production duties when the work gets ramped up.

“ … I'm not even sure you could say we've started the record,” Buck told Pitchfork. “But Mike [Mills] and I write all the time, and I had a bunch of songs we were going over during soundcheck on the last tour. I just didn't want to forget mine. Mike had some stuff he wanted to do. We never do demos; we just go in and record. And I was like ‘Well, I have a lot of equipment in Portland; we can do it there.’ And I've worked at Jackpot! Studio before. It just seemed like the thing to do.”

Buck went on to talk about R.E.M.’s work methods.

“You know, it's a process that is always kind of mysterious,” he said. “To a certain degree, when we are doing this stuff, we are doing this to excite Michael [Stipe] about getting inspired. For him, he really wants to hear something and be inspired to sing something. It's an amazing thing to have him do, but he doesn't finish every song and say, ‘Here, take your pick.’ It's really the things that really move him. So he'll listen to the stuff in a few months, and ideally there will be enough there to spark his interest.”

Buck also hinted that the new songs may be more varied, stylistically, than those on Accelerate.

“This record, I want it to be broader; I think Michael is into that,” the guitarist said. “So there are some really pretty acoustic things, some really total noisy rock, and some kind of poppy stuff. It runs the gamut. Ideally, if it were me making all the decisions, I'd say the record would be a lot broader than the last one.”