The Pet Shop Boys will release their 14th studio album in January, a 10-song collection called Hotspot that will include the recently released dance track “Dreamland” — featuring Olly Alexander of the UK synthpop outfit Years & Years — as well as the new single “Burning the Heather,” which includes an assist from Bernard Butler.
The, er, monstrous reissue of R.E.M.’s 1994 album Monster arrives on Friday, and the band has continued to tease some of the unheard material that’ll appear on the box set. Next up: the instrumental demo “Uptempo Mo Distortion,” which sounds enough like “old” R.E.M. to explain why it wasn’t further developed.
R.E.M. continues to tease fans with tastes of its newly remixed version of Monster, this time previewing the massive reissue of the 1994 album with original producer Scott Litt’s new take on “Let Me In,” the spare, wall-of-sound tribute to Kurt Cobain that anchored that record. Check it out right here.
Michael Stipe today released his debut solo single, the synthy “Your Capricious Soul,” which comes a full eight years after the breakup of R.E.M. The song can be purchased for download from Stipe’s website, with proceeds benefiting the climate action group Extinction Rebellion. Hear it right here.
R.E.M. today shared a previously unreleased song the band recorded 15 years ago at the famed Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas in an effort to help raise money for Mercy Corps’ Hurricane Dorian relief and recovery efforts in those storm-ravaged islands. The track can be streamed for free or purchased for $2.
The Pet Shop Boys today debuted the first single off their forthcoming 14th studio album, a song called “Dreamland” that a pulsing dance number that features Neil Tennant duetting with Olly Alexander of the UK synthpop outfit Years & Years. Stream it right here. Plus UK tour dates.
Rhino Records continues to dole out samples of the upcoming Dead Man’s Pop box set from The Replacements, a 4CD/1LP collection celebrating the Don’t Tell a Soul album and era that will include the two-disc The Complete Inconcerted Live — a set that includes the live version of “Alex Chilton” that you can hear here.
R.E.M. is offering the first taste of Scott Litt’s new remix of Monster — part of the upcoming 6-disc box set marking the 25th anniversary of that album — via a worked-over version of the record’s first single, the Dan Rather-paraphrasing “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” Hear it right here.
The Replacements have offered up a second taste of their “radically re-imagined” version of their 1989 record Don’t Tell a Soul in the form of version of “Achin’ to Be” recorded at their aborted first sessions in Bearsville, N.Y. You can stream the song right here and learn more about the reissue.
Synthpop legends Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark today announced plans to release a career-spanning 7-disc box set with unreleased live and studio material as well as a 20-song singles collection — both titled Souvenir — and debuted a new single called “Don’t Go.” Check out the full tracklist right here.
The Pixies are back with a second track — the melodic rocker “Catfish Kate” — off their upcoming album Beneath the Eyrie, the band’s third post-reunion, post-Kim Deal effort and seventh full-length overall. You can see the animated music video for the track right here.
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