R.E.M. have shared a new benefit EP titled Radio Free Europe 2025. The five-track project includes a new remix of the band’s 1981 debut single, “Radio Free Europe,” reworked by producer and longtime R.E.M. collaborator Jacknife Lee. The EP is out now digitally, and a vinyl edition is out on September 12 via Craft. Proceeds from the vinyl will go to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the editorially independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that inspired R.E.M.’s early single. Listen to the new EP below.
Radio Free Europe 2025 was overseen by the band’s original producer Mitch Easter, who first recorded R.E.M. at his Drive-In Studio in 1981. That session included recordings of “Radio Free Europe,” “Sitting Still,” and the instrumental “Wh. Tornado,” all of which appear on the new EP.
Radio Free Europe 2025 arrives as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty celebrates its 75th anniversary, and just ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Saturday, May 3. The organization currently broadcasts news to 23 countries in 27 languages, making critical information available in regions where a free press is either banned or threatened by the presiding government. RFE/RFL is currently under threat amid President Donald J. Trump’s widespread funding cuts, though a federal judge recently ruled that his administration must restore the $12 million that Congress had appropriated for the organization.
Speaking on the importance of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in press materials, R.E.M. bandleader Michael Stipe said: “Whether it’s music or a free press—censorship anywhere is a threat to the truth everywhere. On World Press Freedom Day, I’m sending a shout-out to the brave journalists at Radio Free Europe.” Stipe also discussed the new music on CBS Mornings, and you can watch his interview on Instagram.
Bassist Mike Mills continued the sentiment: “Radio Free Europe’s journalists have been pissing off dictators for 75 years. You know you’re doing your job when you make the right enemies. Happy World Press Freedom Day to the ‘OG’ Radio Free Europe.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s president and chief executive, Stephen Capus, added: “To me, R.E.M.’s music has always embodied a celebration of freedom: freedom of expression, lyrics that make us think, and melodies that inspire action. Those are the very aims of our journalists at Radio Free Europe—to inform, inspire, and uphold freedoms often elusive to our audiences. We hold dictators accountable. They go to great lengths to silence us—blocking our websites, jamming our signals, and even imprisoning our colleagues.”