Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament says band’s new album “doesn’t feel like a record yet”

Pearl Jam‘s Jeff Ament has given an update on the band’s new album, saying it “doesn’t feel like a record yet”.

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Guitarist Stone Gossard confirmed in an interview last March that work had begun on the follow-up to 2020’s ‘Gigaton’ and that Andrew Watt, who has previously worked with Justin Bieber, is behind the production desk this time around.

While Gossard said they were going to try and finish the record “pretty soon,” Ament has revealed in a new interview that there’s still a way to go on the new LP.

“The hardest part of [finishing] a record a lot of times is figuring out which songs go on the record and do we need to record another song and what’s the artwork and what’s the title and all that stuff,” he said, revealing that the band are taking the summer off.

“Come September, we’re still gonna pick up those questions we have about where we’re at and we’re gonna ask those questions again,” he added.

“I think everybody hopes that we have a record out next year. If we have a record out next year, that means we’ll probably play a few more shows, and I think there’s a couple places we haven’t played in quite a while, so I think we have stuff penciled in.”

Of the band’s legacy and what it affords them when making new music, Ament added: “We’ve earned the right to sort of [do whatever we want], and that’s tough because there are five of us pulling the cart.

“Sometimes you end up pulling the cart in opposite directions. But, [it’s about] just embracing all of that, embracing everybody’s ideas, hopes, dreams, wishes, and styles… I think that’s what we hope for, musically. I think we want to turn the corner and access all the best parts of each other.”

Later this year, the band will head out on a US headline tour, which they recently announced with all-in ticket pricing, featuring no hidden fees.

The news of the all-in ticket pricing follows The Cure‘s recent battle with Ticketmaster over fees. In March, Robert Smith persuaded Ticketmaster to issue small refunds to verified ticket buyers over the “unduly high” service fees.