Four decades after it lit up college radio and launched R.E.M.’s remarkable career, “Radio Free Europe” is sending out a brand-new signal.
Overseen by original producer Mitch Easter—who mixed the band's very first recording of “Radio Free Europe” back in 1981—the EP opens with a never-before-released 2025 remix by GRAMMY®-winner Jacknife Lee (U2, Snow Patrol, Taylor Swift, The Killers). Lee, who produced R.E.M.’s final two studio albums, Accelerate and Collapse Into Now, gives the track a fresh take, while staying true to its indie-rock DNA.
The 5-track set also features rarities from 1981—including the Original Hib-Tone Single mix of "Radio Free Europe," B-side "Sitting Still," plus demos “Wh. Tornado” and “Radio Free Dub,” the latter making its digital debut.
In 2009, “Radio Free Europe” was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry for “setting the pattern for later indie-rock releases.”