A cohort of Seattle’s pre-2000 grunge icons – including Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and Pearl Jam/Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron – have formed a new supergroup called 3rd Secret and released their debut album , without having previously announced it yesterday (04/11).
The 11-track self-titled opus features a wide sonic palette – borrowing heavily from classic grunge and alt-rock flavors but adding variety with touches of laid-back folk and indie rock, swampy blues and pounding hard rock.
Tracks like “Dead Sea” and “Winter Solstice” make impressive use of twangy, melancholic acoustics, while “Right Stuff”‘s use of an accordion adds a unique sense of theatricality. “Diamond In The Cold,” on the other hand, is a crunchy, mosh-leaning rock anthem, with songs like “I Choose Me” and “Lies Fade Away” embracing the epochal ’90s grunge sound that the members of 3rd Secret have left on.
Listen to the full album below:
Alongside Novoselic, Thayil and Cameron, 3rd Secret will feature guitarist Jon ‘Bubba’ Dupree (best known for his work in ’80s hardcore band Void as well as alt metal supergroup Hater, which also featured Cameron) and vocalist Jillian rounded out Raye (who Novoselic also plays with as part of Giants In The Trees) and Jennifer Johnson.
Recording for the album was split into three sessions, all with the involvement of longtime Nirvana and Soundgarden collaborator Jack Endino. In addition to mixing the full release and engineering three tracks, Endino assisted Nate Yaccino to record five of the tracks and Erik Friend to record the other three.
Friend also played synths on “Dead Sea” and “Rhythm Of The Ride,” while Martin Link filled in for Cameron on tracks “Live Without You” and “Right Stuff.”
The album was released independently and is only available to purchase digitally from Amazon and streamed via Spotify and YouTube at the time of writing. It will be available to stream on Apple Music soon, 3rd Secret confirmed on their website, although they are yet to reveal details about a potential physical release.
Novoselic teased the existence of 3rd Secret back in February, sharing in a since-deleted tweet that he was “really busy finishing a record” and “is in the middle of some trouble.” At that time, the publication was planned for mid-March.