This limited-edition 10-inch EP revisits R.E.M.’s landmark debut single “Radio Free Europe” and is pressed on translucent orange vinyl.Proceeds from all vinyl sales will go to RFE/RL, an editorially independent nonpartisan and nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation.The Radio Free Europe 2025 EP was overseen by the band’s original producer Mitch Easter—who first captured R.E.M.at his Drive-In Studio during their maiden road trip to a professional studio in April 1981.That seminal session yielded the band’s earliest recordings of “Radio Free Europe,” “Sitting Still,” and the instrumental “Wh.Tornado,” all collected here.The five-track set opens with a brand-new 2025 remix by the band’s longtime collaborator Jacknife Lee, who also produced R.E.M.’s final two studio albums, Accelerate and Collapse Into Now.Lee gives the track a fresh take while staying true to its indie-rock DNA.Completing the package are Mitch Easter’s original 1981 recordings—the sought-after Hib-Tone single mix of “Radio Free Europe,” its flip-side “Sitting Still,” the “Wh.Tornado” demo, and Easter’s long-rumoured, never-before-released 1981 remix “Radio Free Dub.”
