Hi! Thanks for visiting Unreality Music! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed for regular updates.

R.E.M. release the second single from their Accelerate album, Hollow Man on 2 June 2008. In keeping with the R.E.M. renaissance vibe, Hollow Man is a very straightforward, immediate tune.

As Eric Zimmermann writes:

I think it speaks of being Middle Aged.  I think that we all look at ourselves in the mirror sometimes and wonder just if our lives are what we expected when we were 18.

And that’s the one thing that Hollow Man taps into - that sense of waking up disenfranchised and wondering what’s the point of everything. Stipe’s lament through the chorus is “Believe in me/Believe in nothing” and his resulting desire to be “something”.

Instantly recognisable as R.E.M., but with a jangly acoustic rock sound that’s always a delight to hear. My only complaint is that it’s too short, but it does leave you wanting more.