We’re a little over a week away from the release of R.E.M.‘s new album, Collapse Into Now, and I, for one, couldn’t be more excited, especially after guitarist Peter Buck recently told Rolling Stone, “This is, song for song, the best thing we’ve ever done.”

Considering Collapse Into Now is R.E.M.’s fifteenth studio album, that’s quite a statement, as the band’s history counts classic sets like Life’s Rich Pageant (1986), Out Of Time (1991), and Automatic For The People (1992). But listening to the handful of tracks from Collapse that have been previewed over the past few months, I’m inclined to agree with Buck’s biased view, even though I’ve yet to hear the whole thing.

Portland, Oregon folk-rock outfit The Decemberists have courted comparisons to Athens, Georgia’s favorite sons for a while, with frontman Colin Meloy saying that his group’s new album, The King Is Dead, was influenced by R.E.M.’s early work. They even corralled Buck to contribute guitar, mandolin, and vocals to three tracks on their sixth effort, making those sonic similarities more obvious this time around.

In a recent visit to KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” The Decemberists returned the favor, paying further homage to classic R.E.M. by covering “Cuyahoga” from Life’s Rich Pageant.

I’m assuming this isn’t one of those convoluted scratch-my-back exchanges a la Peter Gabriel, but I guess we’ll have to wait a bit to see if R.E.M. redoes something by The Decemberists.

Free download of The Decemberists – “Cuyahoga” (R.E.M. cover) via Stereogum. Tide yourself over ’til the March 8 release of R.E.M’s Collapse Into Now with a free download of “Oh My Heart” via Amazon MP3.