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.

Eight years after the breakup of R.E.M., the band’s former frontman Michael Stipe is ready to release his debut solo single, a song called “Your Capricious Soul” that he’s been playing live and will be released digitally this weekend to benefit the climate action group Extinction Rebellion. Full details 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.

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 list of artists who are believed to have lost tapes in the 2008 fire that destroyed a Universal Music Group warehouse at Universal Studios in Los Angeles includes R.E.M., Sonic Youth, The Damned, The Police, Squeeze, The Dream Syndicate, Oingo Boingo, Suzanne Vega, Adam Ant, Joe Jackson and more.

Former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe performed a pair of new songs during a short opening set for Patti Smith at New York City’s Webster Hall, performing the electronics-backed “Your Capricious Soul” and “Drive to the Ocean” with help from Andy LeMaster of Now It’s Overhead. Watch them here.