Interviews with Pearl Jam's members about forthcoming album Dark Matter (out on 19 April) are now surfacing and you can officially colour us excited. Stone Gossard especially sounds enthused in a way we can't ignore when speaking to Spin – and it seems producer and massive Pearl Jam fan Andrew Watt deserves a chunk of the credit.
We were comfortable because of Ed having already said, I think this is a good choice. Let’s experiment together," the guitarist says of Eddie Vedder's unexpected call to the band to come to Rick Rubin's Malibu Shangri-La studio in the summer of 2021 and see what happened. He and Watt had been working on the solo album Earthling and felt inspired.
"Gigaton was made over a long period of time," Gossard says of the contrast with the band's previous album. "It was done from individual demos, using the parts that were raw and rough from them that we loved, but also adding onto them. It was a cool process, but this was the anti-that."
This album was, you barely bring in a riff, but in 30 minutes, here’s two or three chords you might not have even known how to play but they sound cool in the bridge
"This was, you barely bring in a riff, but in 30 minutes, here’s two or three chords you might not have even known how to play but they sound cool in the bridge," adds Gossard. "We encouraged Matt Cameron to be more and more aggressive. Let’s make these feel like they’re being enacted right in the moment. That was what was exciting about the process with Andrew."
The bulk of the album was completed in two sessions in 2021 and March 2023 – 20 months apart. Partly due to Watt being so in demand as a producer for the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones. Two songs were written on the first day the band worked with Watt and they became Dark Matter's Scared Of Fear and React, Respond – the former a Gossard idea. As a skilled producer and fan with a deep knowledge of the band's music and shows (he'd wear a different Pearl Jam tour t-shirt to sessions each day), Watt brought a different energy and encouraged the band to work together, and quickly. He'd also draw on his experience as a guitarist.
For the most part, Andrew was feeling the song with us and experiencing it as it goes down
"In the past, [Pearl Jam producer of albums including Vs and Vitalogy] Brendan O’Brien would help us with a chord or two every once in a while and be the outside ear," explains Gossard. "It’s hard because even if you hear that something’s not quite working, it’s better that it comes from somebody who’s not in the band. Andrew had a guitar on the whole time. We would all play together, and some of his playing is on the album. For the most part, he was feeling the song with us and experiencing it as it goes down. He loves our oddball, idiosyncratic things, but he also pushed us to get to the point, to be aggressive, to be ourselves and not shy away from who we are."
It sounds like one of the greatest examples of that will be the song Waiting For Stevie (inspired by Watt and Eddie waiting for Stevie Wonder to arrive to guest on Earthling). Gossard's description of this song is really going to get fans excited.
"It has a riff that gives Matt Cameron the opportunity to be as great as we know him to be," reveals Gossard on the track that Spin thinks sounds like a callback to the band's early 90s Singles contributions State Of Love And Trust and Breath. "I think that drum fill coming out of the bridge is probably one of the greatest drum fills of all time. There’s just no way you can’t make the Mötley Crüe sign. I love that song."
The Mötley Crüe reference is somewhat eyebrow-raising in light of Eddie Vedder's 2022 comments about the LA band, but Gossard has gone on record to say he bought their debut album when it came out. Anyway, we digress…
To me, it feels kind of like a hit, you know what I mean? I’ll be curious if it where it ends up sitting in the pantheon of favorites among Pearl Jam fans
"It’s the way the bass line and the guitar line play against each other melodically," Gossard adds of the track he thinks sounds more like "almost a tribute to Soundgarden. "To me, it feels kind of like a hit, you know what I mean? I’ll be curious if it where it ends up sitting in the pantheon of favorites among Pearl Jam fans."
Now that's what we call hyping a song! Gossard clearly enjoyed the more intense style of working that the band had with Watt – "We were scrambling and burning the candle on both ends, but it was also fucking great," he tells Spin. He also didn't need to bring anything for the first session of recording.
"Andrew is a guitar collector, so everything you could ever want to try to play is there," enthuses Gossard. "You’re diving in headfirst to a new situation that you’re excited about because one, Ed’s excited about it. And two, you don’t know Andrew or anything about him, but it’s different. What’s the worst that can happen? It doesn’t work out, or it shakes something different loose."
Things went so well, the guitarist he's not ruling out another record helmed by Watt. "I personally think that the experience of working with Andrew was fantastic and I would love another shot at making a record with him," reveals Gossard. "The chemistry we had and continue to have with him is something worth exploring. He’s an astronaut. He likes to go out and try different ideas, but he also has a great sensitivity to the things he loves about this band, and will let us know if we’re not moving in a direction that feels authentic."
Read the full interview at Spin.
