Out today is R.E.M.’s first official single from Collapse Into Now (Out March 8th): “Mine Smell Like Honey.” And longtime fans will be happy to hear that it’s got all those vintage things we’ve come to see in the post-Accelerate Renaissance: a hook-driven chorus with Mike Mills’ soaring voice, guitars that… jangle (seriously, can we find another word for Peter Buck’s style), and a confidence that shines through. Yet, unlike the bombast of Accelerate, this track has a more relaxed, lived-in kind of feel… it’s the sound of a band playing for the sake of it, and with nothing to prove. In short, it’s everything that made R.E.M. great in the first place.
And here it is… If you like it, consider picking it up on iTunes, Amazon, or wherever digital music is sold…