Mike and I got together few days after announcement in New York, and he said exactly that. “This feels liberating.” And I was actually relieved. Because that was exactly the word inside me. And we’ve said bittersweet a lot too. But it is bittersweet. It’s hard to walk away from what we’ve done since we were teenagers… But I’m so proud, too. We’re all so proud of what we did.

Læs Michael Stipe’s exit-interview med The Quietus lige her.