News R.E.M. singer also debuted 'The Rest of Ever' from long-in-the-works LP Michael Stipe performs with R.E.M. on June 13, 2024 (photo: Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame). R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night (April 23) to confirm that his long-in-the-works solo debut will be released “at the end of the year.” Stipe also debuted a song from it, “The Rest of Ever,” with backing from the show’s house band, Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine. During his couch segment, the heavily bearded 66-year-old vocalist said one of the album’s songs “is the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time. My friend recorded a tree in my backyard in Georgia and played it back to itself.” Stipe said the ensuing song “sounds like Daft Punk” and that he reworked the lyrics to the 250-year-old sea shanty “Drunken Sailor” to pair with it.…