Credit: Danny Clinch

Jeff Ament discusses upcoming Pearl Jam record: “We’ve earned the right to do whatever the fuck we want”

Sat 1 July 2023 9:47, UK

Jeff Ament, the bassist of grunge stalwarts Pearl Jam, has discussed the band’s forthcoming album. The 60-year-old rocker revealed that the group have felt free to explore their true artistic impulses while recording the new LP, which guitarist Stone Gossard recently announced was “close to the finish line”.

During an appearance on Kyle Meredith With, Ament admitted that, while after three decades of success, Pearl Jam feel that they have “earned the right to do whatever the fuck we want,” their new record isn’t quite finished and “doesn’t feel like a record yet”.

“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,” Ament continued, backpedalling Gossard’s recent comments a touch.

“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,” Ament continued. “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 pencilled in.”

Ament also conceded that the band’s rock majesty comes with its benefits and limitations. “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,” he explained.

“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.”

“We all have those hopes and dreams for what we think a new Pearl Jam song would be — hopefully, at the end of this, everybody feels like their characters are part of it,” Ament concluded on the new album. “That’s where we’re at as a band right now. Like, I want to hear Mike McCready blow the doors off. I want to hear a lyric from Ed [Vedder] that makes me laugh or makes me really sad, or, you know, really brutally sad — he can do that as good as anybody.

“I think everybody in the band has an ability that’s kind of a superpower. It’s like, ‘How do we pull those superpowers out of each other to write great music?’ Again, we’ve earned the right to do it however we want to. But I think showing off our strengths isn’t the worst way for this band to operate at this point.”

At present, no name or release date has been given for the new album, but reports indicate the group is working in the studio with producer Andrew Watt.

Watch one of Pearl Jam’s live performances from 2022 below.