© Danny Clinch (Press)
Pearl Jam is releasing a new album this year, following 2020's Gigaton, and according to guitarist Mike McCready, the grunge giants are returning to their hard rock roots.
In a new interview with Classic Rock, McCready describes the album, produced by Andrew Watt (Ozzy Osbourne, Post Malone, etc.), as “a lot harder than people expect.”
In particular, he explains: “We find the melodies and the energy of our first two albums. We worked with Andrew Watt, who's a younger pop producer but definitely a rocker at heart – I think we're his favorite band. When we were in the studio with him last year, he really kicked our asses, made us concentrate and play song after song. It took a long time to make Gigaton, but this new album didn't take much time. Andrew told us: “It takes forever to make records. 'Let's go, now'.”
He adds: “Andrew pushed us to play as hard, as melodically and thoughtfully as possible. I feel like Matt Cameron’s drumming has elements of what he did at Soundgarden.”
McCready also emphasizes that there will be more guitar leads from him in the songs and that these will be first or second takes to keep it raw and authentic.
No release date has been announced yet, but Pearl Jam's new album is expected later this year.