Waiting for an upcoming US tour set to kick off in August, Pearl Jam has been also working on their latest record. Stone Gossard, the band’s guitarist, recently spoke with the ‘Kyle Meredith With…’ podcast, revealing that the band’s new album is almost done.
The record, a follow-up to their 2020 release, ‘Gigaton,’ is a collaboration with producer Andrew Watt. The guitarist credited Watt, who worked with pop singers before, with bringing new energy into the band’s music, hinting at a good vibe for the upcoming album.
Talking about working with the producer, Gossard said:
“[Andrew Watt]’s so enthusiastic; he’s young, and you know, bouncing up the walls. Just loving the opportunity to work with us, and we’re totally being blessed by him ’cause he’s energizing us. I think that’s what you’ll hear in the record. There’s just good energy.”
When asked whether the band’s earlier sound would be back with this project, he continued:
“You have to be the judge of that. I think it’s an energy that he’s looking for that’s stealing – You know, he’s a fan club member, he’s f–king seen the band fifty times. But he’s also literally a top-flight pop producer. He’s like making Justin Bieber records. He’s making Selena Gomez.
With all that stuff, that’s not – You know, he likes pop. I’m more of a pop fan than he is. But it’s fun, and we’re getting closer. At some point, we’ll have the record out.”
In addition to Pearl Jam’s upcoming album, Gossard is preparing for the release of Brad‘s final album, slated for July 28. The record features the last recordings of singer Shawn Smith, who passed away in 2019.
Its title track, ‘In The Moment That You’re Born,’ was out in a music video released this April. Commenting on the video, Jonathan Cohen of Spin noted:
“The title track is one of the heavier Brad songs ever, with Smith singing in a lower register than usual atop Gossard and Keith Lowe’s swirling guitar attack. [Regan] Hagar says the song comes from a weekend recording session about five years ago and that Smith’s vocal offers almost a gospel vibe. Sonically, it harkens back to Smith and Hagar’s other project Satchel, which was often active in parallel with Brad in the ’90s.”
You can check out Brad’s new single in the video below.