R.E.M. - It Happened Today

R.E.M.'s latest album Collapse Into Now was a real thing of contrasts. On one level, it was so wonderfully refreshing to see a band so far into their career producing something so clearly youthful in sound. The up-tempo numbers genuinely felt like they could stand their ground amidst many bands half the age R.E.M. are. Because after all, so many these days owe so much to that original R.E.M. sound.

And therein lies the other beauty of Collapse Into Now - it felt timeless and fiercely independent. It could have come from any point in the band's career, slotting effortlessly into any decade. R.E.M. are not a band to rest on their laurels or alter every trace of their sound to chase trends. No, they are quite content to keep existing within their own tightly defined boundaries, and it's a scene that suits them. Some might call them boring, but as their fans are sure to pipe up about, it's just R.E.M. being R.E.M. And Collapse Into Now really was an album 'for the fans', a thank you for sticking with the band all this time.

Of course, the irony is that in the creation of the album, the band actually created their most open and friendly record in years. This is an album that could function as an introduction for the casual listener to everything the band represents - the slow, rapturous beauty of Uberlin or the frantic, scratchy rhythms of Mine Smell Like Honey.

But where does It Happened Today slot into all this? As a single, it feels tantalisingly slow - as if at any moment it could all launch into an epic guitar solo or final all-out chorus. But it never does, because R.E.M. are not ones to showboat. In many ways, it's almost hymn-like; the hummed vocals ringing out long after the final washes of reverb-heavy guitar fade away. And while it may not snap to the attention like Uberlin, it seems somehow quaintly fitting for what a fourth single should be, the good company of an old friend you know will always be there for you.

It Happened Today is released on the 29th May.