Pearl Jam have announced Dark Matter, their 12th album and the followup to 2020’s Gigaton. Guitarist Mike McCready promised an album that’s “a lot heavier than you’d expect” in an interview with Classic Rock last fall, and following the dancier vibes of Gigaton, Dark Matter‘s lead single and title track does indeed feel like a return to Pearl Jam’s classic ’90s grungy hard rock vibes. Check it out below. The album drops April 19 via Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records, and there will be a special edition released on Record Store Day (4/20). Pre-order it on LP, CD, or CD/Blu-Ray Audio in the BV shop.
The album was produced by Andrew Watt, who’s recently worked with The Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne, Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, and more. McCready also praised Watt in that same interview, saying, “When we were in the studio with him this past year, he really kicked our asses, got us focused and playing, song after song. It took a long time to make Gigaton, but this new one didn’t take long. Andrew was like: ‘You guys take forever to make records. Let’s do this, right now.'”
“Andrew pushed us to play as hard and melodic and thoughtful as we’ve done in a long time,” McCready continued. “I feel like Matt Cameron’s drumming has elements of what he did in Soundgarden.”
Gigaton closed a seven-year gap between albums, and it came out in March of 2020, just after the world had gone into lockdown. This one not only came together faster than that, but The Columbian reports that bassist Jeff Ament told the crowd at the album’s recent private listening party that they made it roughly a year ago and have been sitting on it since. “We felt like we were about to make a really important record,” he said. “A lot of that had to do with the atmosphere Andrew set up. He has encyclopedic knowledge of our history, not only as a band and how we wrote songs, but as players. He could pinpoint things we did on old songs to the point where I was like, ‘What the fuck is he talking about?’ His excitement was contagious. He’s a force. I just want to say thanks for keeping us on track. I couldn’t be prouder of us as a band. I feel so grateful for the fans, but mostly for my brothers and these people I’ve made music with.”
Eddie Vedder said, “You all get together as a group as we’ve been doing for 30-plus years and you say, ‘Let’s try it again.’ No hyperbole, I think this is our best work.”
UPDATE: Pearl Jam have now also announced a world tour.
Tracklist
Scared of Fear
React, Respond
Wreckage
Dark Matter
Won’t Tell
Upper Hand
Waiting for Stevie
Running
Something Special
Got to Give
Setting Sun
Pearl Jam — 2024 Tour Dates
May 04 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
May 06 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
May 10 Portland, OR Moda Center
May 13 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
May 16 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 18 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 21 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
May 22 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
May 25** Napa Valley, CA BottleRock Festival
May 28 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
May 30 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
Jun 22 Dublin, IE Marlay Park
June 25 Manchester, UK Manchester Co-Op Arena
Jun 29 London, UK Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Jul 02 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
Jul 03 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
Jul 06 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
Jul 08 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
Jul 11** Madrid, ES Mad Cool Festival
Jul 13** Lisbon, PT NOS Alive Festival
Aug 22 Missoula, MT Washington-Grizzly Stadium
Aug 26* Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Music Center
Aug 29 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
Aug 31 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
Sep 03 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Sep 04 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Sep 07 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sep 09 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sep 12 Baltimore, MD CFG Bank Arena
Sep 15 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Sep 17 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Nov 08 Auckland, NZ Go Media Stadium Mt Smart
Nov 13 Gold Coast, AU Heritage Bank Stadium
Nov 16 Melbourne, AU Marvel Stadium
Nov 21 Sydney, AU Giants Stadium
Support: Deep Sea Diver (North America Leg 1), Glen Hansard (North America Leg 2), The Murder Capital (UK/EU), Richard Ashcroft (Dublin and London) and Pixies (Australia and New Zealand)
* Rescheduled date from 2022
** Festival dates are already on sale
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Top photo from Sea.Hear.Now 2021 by Toby Tenebaum. More here.