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Listen: R.E.M.'s New Song 'Mine Smell Like Honey'

Band returns to jangling guitars and sweet harmonies on first single from 'Collapse Into Now'

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January 18, 2011 6:20 PM ET
Listen: R.E.M.'s New Song 'Mine Smell Like Honey'
Anton Corbijn

"Mine Smell Like Honey," the first official single from R.E.M.'s forthcoming album Collapse Into Now, finds each member of the trio playing to long-established strengths. Peter Buck's guitar parts alternate between the jangle of 1984's Reckoning and the crunch of 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi, while Michael Stipe sings some seriously inscrutable lyrics in a low, weathered grumble before launching into a sweeping chorus. As ever, the band's secret weapon is Mike Mills, who provides the tune's best hook with his call-and-response backing vocals on the lead-up to the chorus.


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