After debuting their upcoming album at a private event at Los Angeles’ Troubadour on Jan. 31 but withholding nearly all details from publication, Pearl Jam have revealed “Dark Matter,” the first single and title track from the April 19 Monkeywrench/Republic release.
“Dark Matter” is a powerful opening blast built on a series of descending riffs, a rhythmic cadence recalling both Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock’n’Roll” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady,” a stuttering, processed guitar figure reminiscent of the band’s 2002 song “You Are,” a wild, screaming solo from Mike McCready and an intense, age-defying vocal from Pearl Jam’s 59-year-old-frontman Eddie Vedder.
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“Denounce the demigods / king diamond to discard / deploy the dialog / your word against the law,” he sings before the chorus, which carries the repeated couplet “it’s strange these days, when everybody else pays for someone else’s mistake / this blame takes shape, still everybody else pays for someone else’s mistake.”
Sonically, “Dark Matter” slots in somewhere between the more tightly wound Pearl Jam of Vs. and the sleek, angry rockers found on later albums such as Binaural. Vedder’s trademark turn-of-phrase is evident during the zig-zagging bridge, where he commands, “No tolerance for intolerance or / no patience left for impatience no more / no love lost for lost loves / no sorrow for the unaccountable.” A short instrumental snippet of the song was debuted yesterday on The Bill Simmons Podcast.
Pearl Jam are expected to spill the beans later today about more album-related news and their 2024 touring plans behind it. The follow-up to 2020’s Gigaton was produced by lifelong Pearl Jam fan Andrew Watt, conceptualized in July 2021 at his Beverly Hills, Ca., studio and largely recorded at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La last year.
Dark Matter pre-orders are now live and include several vinyl variants for the Ten Club fan organizations and indie retailers. All vinyl packages include one of three unique sticker sheets, while HD Audio and Dolby Atmos mixes will be available on a deluxe CD/Blu-ray. “Dark Matter” will also be sold as a seven-inch vinyl single backed with an instrumental version on the b-side.
“We’re still looking for ways to communicate. We’re at this time in our lives when you could do it or you could not do it, but we still care about putting something out there that is meaningful. No hyperbole — I think this is our best work,” Vedder said of the new album at the Troubadour playback. “I couldn’t be prouder of us as a band,” added bassist Jeff Ament.
Here is the tracklist for Dark Matter:
Scared of Fear
React, Respond
Wreckage
Dark Matter
Won’t Tell
Upper Hand
Waiting for Stevie
Running
Something Special
Got To Give
Setting Sun
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
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