In ‘Dark Matter’, Pearl Jam returns to its grunge sound, but far from the anguish that projected them

A global pandemic distances the new album from Pearl Jam from their penultimate release, ‘Gigaton‘, launched in March 2020, a month marked by the world interrupting its activities. Pearl Jam was not left out and, along with the entire music market, changed publicity plans and canceled shows.

Four years later, the Seattle band’s 12th studio album, ‘Dark Matter‘, ignites the fuel saved over the last few years by the group, which has already announced performance dates and, to launch the new work, promoted listening parties all over the world, including in Brazil, where the Rolling Stone was present and listened to it in full even before its release. The wait after the period away from the stage made the group return energetically, recording the new album in just three weeks, at the producer’s modern Shangri-La studio Rick Rubinin California.

The return in style of one of the last active icons of the grunge scene also had a youthful air; the producer is Andrew Watt33 years old — the same age as the band’s first album in 2024, ‘ten‘, released months after the birth of the North American. Producer of the Year Grammy 2021, supervised the ensemble in what they described, on the official website, as an “explosion of inspiration”.

Such an explosion is audible in the album’s songs, but far from the anguished lyrics that made the band famous; the title track itself uses chords in a major key to propose a reflection on ignorance, the lack of empathy and intolerance today, but without Vedder sing screams that hurt your vocal chords at no point in the new project.

‘React, Respond‘ It is ‘Running‘ also rescue the lively sound, compatible with the album’s visual identity, with kaleidoscopes forming light designs on the cover and in the band’s visualizers, shown in cinemas around the world as part of the promotional material. Most of the compositions address the interest in rebuilding the sense of civility in humanity, with the word ‘love’ present in most of the compositions. Mike McCready it also gives your taste, as there are guitar solos on almost every track.

In ‘Wreckage‘, the rhythm slows down, but still keeping even bars on the drums. Matt Cameron, which may stand out negatively to older fans of the band. On the album, the mixing gave the instrument a deeper, reverberated and less boomy sound, being much less explosive and sharp when compared to previous works. ‘Something Special‘ and ‘Setting Sun‘, which closes the album, stand out as welcoming and reflective tracks.

In 48 minutes,’Dark Matter‘ emulates garage rock without leaving aside the limitations of a group that is already a dinosaur of the genre, composing the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famebut also highlighting that refinement and/or consecration does not necessarily make members of the Pearl Jam untouchable — but still interested in pleasing old fans and attracting new ones with a modern look.