It’s a killer week for grunge fans. Following news earlier this week that Soundgarden is “working on new material,” Pearl Jam has now announced that they will record a new album within the next year. It will be the Eddie Vedder-fronted rockers’ 11th record, the follow-up to 2013’s Lightning Bolt. Bassist Jeff Ament spilled the news this week in an interview with Vice which was largely about his work building skateparks in South Dakota and Montana.
While Lightning Bolt was a commercial success — the band’s fifth chart-topping record — the members of Pearl Jam have since delved into other projects. Frontman Eddie Vedder has had his hands in lots of creative efforts: writing a song for Cameron Crowe’s Aloha (which his six-year old daughter sang), playing reunion shows with Temple of the Dog (featuring Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell), and serenading David Letterman on one of his final shows. Lead guitarist Mike McCready recently took his talents to play an Iggy Pop tribute show in Seattle, and bassist Ament has been building skateparks in the Midwest.
Pearl Jam has consistently released new material since Ten, the groups first-ever record which debuted on this day (8/27) in 1991. Until 2002, the workhorse rockers released a record every other year. Since, three have come out: Pearl Jam (2006), Backspacer (2009), and the aforementioned Lightning Bolt.
Pearl Jam have a nine-date run set in South America this fall and will presumably hit the studio sometime afterwards.
