Pitchfork Forkcast: Premiere: R.E.M.: "Supernatural Superserious" [Stream]

Premiere: R.E.M.: "Supernatural Superserious" [Stream]

"Supernatural Superserious" may be a pleasant surprise for R.E.M. fans fearing the band's 14th studio album would be yet another dispensable entry in their catalog. It's a sharp, compact rock song that's softer than Monster, but nowhere near as soggy as Around the Sun. Producer Jacknife Lee-- you know him from Snow Patrol, Editors, and Bloc Party albums-- makes each element stand out, suggesting the democratic sound of the band's I.R.S. years. Mike Mills inhabits the low and high ends with a pulsing bassline and high careening backing vocals, while Peter Buck's guitars scribble around in the middle, pushed along by a double-time drum beat. There's even a little old-school jangle in the background. Sure, Stipe still telegraphs the song's underlying be-yourself sentiment-- a lamentable tendency since Up-- and sure, he's been writing this same bridge for a while now, but he sounds rougher and more urgent here than he has in a while, he and Mills creating an intricate vocal weave on the chorus hook. R.E.M. are still a corporate band, but on "Supernatural Superserious" they sound like an interesting corporate band, with renewed energy and sense of purpose.