Stipe's Rich Pageant

America's best still-performing band is back with a nifty new song, one which has me crossing my fingers and burning incense in hopes of a return to its beguiling combination of craftsmanship and passion.

The band is R.E.M. -- remember them? -- and the song is "Leaving New York," the first effort off its upcoming record Around the Sun. It's a fine initial single, plaintive and yearning, with Michael Stipe in fine form, supplemented by nice accompanying vocals from Mike Mills.

Once upon a time, of course, R.E.M. was the quintessential indie band, a staple of college radio, and its music from those days of long ago resonates still with many, many fans who insist that that was their best work. They had some crossover success with Green, then exploded with Out of Time, a bouncy and fun romp into the mainstream. Following this came Automatic for the People, for my money not only the band's strongest record but one of the very best CDs of the past 20 years. Its elegaic and often haunting lyrics were perfectly matched by a rich, atmospheric sound that alternated between lush and spare, and the result was a layered, fully realized collection of songs that to this day I find tremendously moving.

R.E.M. then spent several years searching for its next step. Monster, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Up, and Reveal weren't bad records; they just weren't all that interesting. The musicianship was unquestionably top-notch, but except for a single here and there, the songs felt detached, as if the band's musical advancement had scrubbed some necessary grit from its soul. And after being all over the radio for a period of about five years, R.E.M. no longer mattered much.

Which brings us to the present day and Around the Sun. It's probably fashionable to say that R.E.M. is incapable of making a very good record, let alone a great one, at this stage, but if once-written-off U2 could pull it off with All That You Can't Leave Behind, why not the boys from Athens? Here's hoping.

Until I hear the rest of the CD, I'll have to comfort myself with "Leaving New York" and my other new favorite song. That would be -- and here's where I destroy the cred I've carefully constructed over the previous several paragraphs -- Ashlee Simpson's "Pieces of Me," as fine a piece of disposable pop as is being played on the radio these days. Go ahead, music fans, take your shots; I deserve it.