Tuesday evening past, I was getting ready to head out, (an event in itself) when my 11 year old autistic son said, “You look nice, mummy, where are you going?”, “Belfast”, I answered, dreading the follow up questions that I didn’t quite know how to answer. Thankfully there were none, which was a relief, as I didn’t quite know how to explain to him I was going to the cinema to listen to/watch an album. It was a strange experience indeed to prepare for hearing the new Pearl Jam album for the first time on the big screen. One which I amused myself to no end about with rhetorical questions such as: “Does one eat popcorn at a Pearl Jam album?”, and puns like: “No popcorn? No problem – I got some if you need it…” , in the build up to the experience which felt simultaneously like going to a listening party, going to the cinema and going to a live show while actually being none of, and, kind of, all of the above.
After opting for a bottle of water to avoid any distracting crunching sounds and sitting through Odeon’s usual adverts and movie trailers, the celluloid rolled to reveal a casual and low key welcome by Pearl Jam bassist, Jeff Ament. It was really kind of cool to think of other jammers elsewhere in Ireland, the UK, Europe, the U.S and as far as Australia, all sitting down to collectively hear the new album, before its release, together in spirit, and in exactly the way Pearl Jam wanted.
Thus, the experience unfolded with a complete run through of the new album, Dark Matter, from start to finish, audio only, with a black screen. Immediately following this was a second complete run through of the album, this time with visuals akin to those already featured in the artwork and videos of the first two single releases off the album, “Dark Matter” and “Running”, combined with lyrics to form somewhat of an extended lyric video. The entire runtime of the screening was 97 minutes, so just over an hour and a half of listening to new Pearl Jam material in cinematic surround sound. As a film studies graduate and lifelong Pearl Jam fan, to say I was in my happy place would be an understatement!
Dark Matter opens atmospherically like a progressive concept album such as Dark Side of the Moon, quietly but quickly building and getting revved up like its predecessors, Ten, Vitalogy, and Gigaton, and like “An opening band for the sun”.
Opening track “Scared of Fear” immediately smacks of Pearl Jam’s signature sound and, as one fan says of the album, “A sum of all parts”, sounding like a blend of all Pearl Jam’s finest material. Most notably for me are its hearkening back to; Ten, Yield, Riot Act, the eponymous Avocado album and Lightning Bolt.
“React, Respond”‘s defining characteristics for me are it’s element of funk, and intrinsic Chilis- esque inspired riff, reminiscent of By The Way’s “Can’t Stop”, alongside Matt Cameron’s Dave Abbrusseze-esque speedy drum rolls. Red Hot Chili Peppers is an unusual influence to appear in a Pearl Jam song but perfectly grounded in the classic drum style of their early albums.
“Wreckage” is both the third track and the third single to be released from the album, dropping the day after its cinematic preview on 17th April. It’s greatly reminiscent of the genres of country and folk, sounding incredibly, and unsurprisingly, like one of Eddie Vedder’s biggest influences, Tom Petty. The song is much in keeping with, and further incorporates elements of Vedder’s solo albums, Earthling and Ukulele Songs, as well as honouring Neil Young, and his vast back catalogue, including his collaborations with the band; Mirrorball and the accompanying Merkin Ball EP.
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The title track was the first single and was received with much excitement and apprehension by the Pearl Jam fanbase at large, having been the first ‘back to their roots’ material released by the band in just over a decade. All I would add now from my original review of the single is that having heard the entire album, this was the perfect choice for a single to launch the album. Meanwhile, “Won’t Tell” sounds like a nod to pop music through the ages. With uplifting subtones of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s mainstream styles, including Pearl Jam’s well recounted influence of The Beatles, along with the more surprising hint of Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood To The Head era. This is all held down with a further Lightning Bolt-like foundation, and enhanced with a riff emulating Jeff Buckley – another first influence to grace the Pearl Jam catalogue.
“Upper Hand” starts out with an effect overtly recalling 1971’s “Baba O’ Riley”. The song then takes us on a journey of atmospherically uplifting turns and dark twists that recall a spectrum of musical inspiration and tribute ranging from; further prog sounds of Pink Floyd, to their own post-Roskilde disaster feels of “Nothing As It Seems”; the signature stadium sound of The Edge’s guitar, to their own “Pendulum”, whose bleakness I can only describe as the soundtrack to my own post-natal depression. There’s a nostalgic recollection of cult classic, “Yellow Ledbetter”, along with other splashes of tribute to the band’s first appearance on celluloid in Cameron Crowe’s Singles Soundtrack as the song incorporates the styles and sounds of Screaming Trees and The Cult, all offset with some serious shredding by McCready.
“Waiting for Stevie” listens like an ode to the 90s and at this stage I’m almost exclusively playing my own game of “Spot The Homage”. I’m taken on a trip down memory lane through my teenage years, hearing the nostalgic crashes and waves of Green River, Mother Love Bone and Smashing Pumpkins – none a stretch too far from Pearl Jam’s own sound, but do I hear Britpop? Then… back to grunge and post-grunge with some distinctly Chris Cornell sounding vocals on Vedder’s part, and some very uplifting and Foos-like vocal lines. All in keeping with the sound and feel of the preceding track, as if the band are bringing us with them on a journey of breakthrough from various levels of pain to a newfound hope and pairs well with the afore-mentioned “Wreckage”. Cameron also seems to be channelling some Steven Adler vibes in this one.
If track six was a nod to pop, and track seven was an ode to the 90’s or an ode to grunge, then second single “Running”, is most definitely an ode to punk. A range of Pearl Jam’s punk influences and tributes can be heard in this fast-paced number. “Running” includes a riff similar to The Offspring’s “Come Out and Play” and influences more obvious to Pearl Jam’s punk roots, such as Bad Religion, The Ramones, and, after regular listening, I would now add The Clash. The “Corduroy”-inspired riff is also turned inside out by McCready who very much drives this song while Vedder spits out lyrics in a vein similar to previous punky offerings such as “Lukin”’ and “Mind Your Manners”.
“Something Special” has been somewhat dreaded in the Pearl Jam community, having been rumoured to feature cringeworthy optimism and blandness. I found it akin to the style of a Jewel or Oasis song in its bouncy playfulness and inherent tropes of the nursery rhyme, but grounded in the classic Pearl Jam bedrock, with guitar undertones resembling Slash, and an influence of The Stones being felt. It’s by no means a surprise with new producer, Andrew Watt famously having recently worked on their latest back to basics offering, Hackney Diamonds. It’s a quaint and quirky little ditty that the power of the band manage to pull off.
“Got To Give” begins with a gently classical intro that sounds like Nick Drake and builds on the big band, hard rock sound flirted with on the previous track with an air of Aerosmith running through this funky, classic rock number. The lyrics feel like we’re nearing the end of Pearl Jam’s musical history as we move away from their Seattle roots and all they’ve held dear through the decades that fell away to their place in the world today as one of the biggest stadium rock bands of all time. Vedder’s confidence and prowess on this track remind me of Springsteen. Then, just as I think I’ve got a grasp on what I’m hearing, another curveball enters the mix with a riff that can only be described as sounding like Nirvana, and yet the song remains quintessentially Pearl Jam’s, not least due to its familiar flying and surfing themes that we have all come to know and love so well.
“Setting Sun” boasts another favourite lyrical theme of Vedder’s; the sun, and opens with tribal drumming that echoes Temple of The Dog’s “Wooden Jesus”, and so Andrew Wood finds his headstone on Dark Matter. The final song, while steeped in classic grunge to this end, also suggests the influence of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” while holding an affinity with other legendary, iconic heroes of Pearl Jam’s; Tom Waits and Cat Stevens. Vedder’s vocals on this track, like much of the album are more Eddie Vedder, less Pearl Jam; more singing, less vocables. In some ways like the spectrum of styles of original and classic female rock singers from Janis Joplin to Joni Mitchell but always with his unique voice that, love it or hate it, belongs to Eddie Vedder alone and can never be rivalled or replicated.
There’s a theme of variations on original riffs within the album and vocal melodies that are not Pearl Jam’s usual fare; Vedders pace and range but off kilter, skipping back and forth between vocal styles and somehow not going where expected. This felt somewhat confusing and disorientating at first, like seeing Counting Crows for the first time live and realising you can’t sing along because their live melodies are all at a tangent from their studio counterparts. Having seen Adam Duritz perform these versions several times now, I can only assume that I will grow to love this new orientation of Vedder’s melodies as I did Duritz’s. True to Pearl Jam form, this album is a grower, with enough of Pearl Jam’s signature familiarity of sound to keep its community interested, yet pushing the boundaries of innovation and evolution just enough to ensure the Pearl Jam family, once acquainted with its newness, can’t get enough of it.
Indeed, Dark Matter was growing on me already on the second playthrough, until it all just sounds normal and you can’t remember or conceive of a time in your life that this music didn’t exist. I envisage Dark Matter being one of those truly great albums for me, where my favourite track keeps changing, until they’ve all been my favourite track, even the ones I didn’t like on first listen.
The second playthrough was also an interesting and different experience to the first, in that hearing the songs again while reading the lyrics impacted my appreciation of the songs dramatically. The lyrics didn’t necessarily stand out to me at first, but on reading them they were revealed to be very powerful, very profound, and very Pearl Jam. Yet just when I was thinking, “Great lyrics but nothing that hits me on any great earth shattering level personally…” there it was. The line that was obviously written just for me: “She finds herself in a song, hears her own voice rising”. He also (Gigaton aside), never fails to make me tear up.
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As that line landed and reminded me of the first time I heard myself in a song, listening to “Daughter” for the first time at age 12, it hit me. My heart overflowed with gratitude for this music and my eyes welled up. Aside from being personally on point, the lyrics on Dark Matter are, for the most part, inspirational and motivational, full of perspective as per, with some signature word play and the standard odd expletive thrown in to offset the band’s latest level of maturity with their counter-cultural origins.
Dark Matter is without question, a celebration and merging of the history of rock music so far, its sub-genres and many of its figureheads. As well as all the artists noted so far, the album boasts the influence of or tribute to many others including, The Doors, Stone Temple Pilots, Glen Hansard and The Frames, and as another long-time fan pointed out, Faith No More. It is also a celebration and merging of the Pearl Jam catalogue to date; the sum of all parts. It has made me fall in love with Pearl Jam again and has made me want to go back and re-listen to their entire back catalogue, it has made me fall in love with music all over again and want to go back and listen to the entire soundtrack of my life, and it has made me fall in love with my life again, because feeling so connected to music this good makes everything enjoyable.
Those who dismiss it will never know its glory, those who only humour it may not either, but it just so happens that there’s a musical void in my life at the minute and once again, this album seems to have come at the perfect time. Its initially annoying quirks have already dug its way under my skin and becoming beloved foibles, as I’m sure will be the case throughout the Pearl Jam family. I’m also still not fully sold on the ordering of songs on the album and how it gels together, but again, that tends to be one of those things that usually falls into place with Pearl Jam on further listening. And despite those niggles, after only two listens it’s clear to me that Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter is a masterpiece. I intend to sink my teeth right into it and savour every morsel.
The evening ended with the audience clapping so I guess I wasn’t alone in my enthusiasm. And just like that, this unique, niche, one night only, once in a lifetime experience was over.
Header image by Danny Clinch
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Dark Matter is out now
