Tired of that Coldplay Christmas song yet? Afraid to even click on The Killers’? Well, maybe this will get you in the holiday spirit. As an exclusive gift to their fan club members, R.E.M. have put out their own holiday single. Although, we’re not sure how exclusive it is, because we have it streaming below, courtesy of Cover Me.
Anyway, R.E.M. release a Christmas single every year (last year was “Santa Baby” and Lenny Kaye’s “Crazy Like a Fox”). This season, R.E.M. have covered Darlene Love’s 1963 track “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. No Michael Stipe, but the rest of R.E.M. and Scott McCaughey of the Minus 5 contribute to this treat. Mike Mills handles vocals, and former R.E.M. member Bill Berry is behind the kit for the track, as he was for “Crazy Like a Fox”.
If you’re a Grinch and this isn’t good enough for you, also check out another treat below. R.E.M. have released an instrumental mashup of three new songs from their forthcoming album, Collapse Into Now. Tracks featured include “Happened Today” (the one with Eddie Vedder), “Uberlin”, and “Every Day Is Yours to Win” and because it’s a remix, it’s of course called “IHT>U>EDIYTW (Dubmix)”.