R.E.M.’s new songs sound “lush, melodic, and atmospheric” says their manager BERTIS DOWNS adding the band are making “an R.E.M record in the best sense”.
Downs, in Dublin with the band working through final sessions on the follow-up to 1998’s ‘Up’, used the band’s official website [url=]www.remhq.com, to confirm that the album was on track for a Spring 2001 release – thanks in part to the city’s convivial atmosphere.
“They are hard at work in Dublin,” he said, “and the music sounds great. Everyone is in excellent spirits, and the weather is fine as well. What more could one ask?
“To my ears, the songs sound lush, melodic, and atmospheric, but mostly they sound like an R.E.M record in the best sense. Present plans are to finish up sometime later this year and release sometime next spring. Since about 1984, when we first came here for a show at the SFX, good things have happened to us in Dublin. This time seems no exception.”
As previously revealed on nme.com, R.E.M went on a huge bender last weekend in Dublin with film director Neil Jordan and members of The Corrs. A spokesperson for the band denied the get together signalled any collaboration between R.E.M and Jordan, insisting the two-day trawl through the city’s clubs and hotels was “just a social thing”.