After releasing two singles from the more frenetic end of the Pearl Jam spectrum, the explosive Dark Matter and the equally lively Running, the third release from the band's upcoming Dark Matter album finds them in much more relaxed form. New single Wreckage arrives ahead of the album's release this Friday, and was recorded – like the rest of the album – at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California, with producer Andrew Watt.
“That one probably has the biggest build for me personally, in terms of hearing it at first and thinking, it’s kind of an Ed song," says guitarist Stone Gossard. "I wasn’t quite aware of its potency until later. Andrew encouraged me to play this little harmonic, acoustic part almost like a Cure melody.
"I’ve been playing along with the song to relearn it and I’m really looking forward to playing it live. It’s a really powerful lyric and I think we did a really great job of taking something and really pushing it to its limit."
Pearl Jam fans in London may be forgiven for feeling more excited than usual this week, as the band launch the so-called Dark Matter-verse on Friday at the Outernet, an events space in the city's famous West End district that claims to host the "world's largest LED screen deployment."
"The Dark Matter-verse invites fans on a journey through the legendary career of Pearl Jam," proclaim the organisers. "Outernet provides a vibrant canvas of visual and audio content, for fans to be transported through time with career highlights, curated photo galleries, and electrifying live performance footage."
There will also be a Pearl Ham pop-up store offering exclusive Pearl Jam merchandise.
The band have a 35-date world tour lined up between May and November, kicking off with a pair of shows at Vancouver's Rogers Arena on May 4 and 5, and ending down under with four Antipodean summer shows in New Zealand and Australia. Full dates below.
Pearl Jam: Dark Matter World Tour dates 2024
May 04: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
May 06: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
May 10: Portland Moda Center, OR
May 13: Sacramento Golden 1 Center, CA
May 16: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV
May 18: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV
May 21: Los Angeles Kia Forum, CA
May 22: Los Angeles Kia Forum, CA
May 25: Napa Valley BottleRock Festival, CA*
May 28: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
May 30: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Jun 22: Dublin Marlay Park, Ireland
Jun 25: Manchester Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Jun 29: London Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, UK
Jul 02: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany
Jul 03: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany
Jul 06: Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi, Spain
Jul 08: Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi, Spain
Jul 11: Madrid Mad Cool Festival, Spain*
Jul 13: Lisbon NOS Alive Festival, Portugal*
Aug 22: Missoula Washington-Grizzly Stadium, MT
Aug 26: Indianapolis Ruoff Music Center, IN^
Aug 29: Chicago Wrigley Field, IL
Aug 31: Chicago Wrigley Field, IL
Sep 03: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Sep 04: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Sep 07: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA
Sep 09: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA
Sep 12: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, MD
Sep 15: Boston Fenway Park, MA
Sep 17: Boston Fenway Park, MA
Nov 08: Auckland Mt Smart Stadium, New Zealand
Nov 13: Gold Coast Heritage Bank Stadium, Australia
Nov 16: Melbourne Marvel Stadium, Australia
Nov 21: Sydney Giants Stadium, Australia
* festival date
^ rescheduled show
Dark Matter tracklist
1. Scared of Fear
2. React, Respond
3. Wreckage
4. Dark Matter
5. Won’t Tell
6. Upper Hand
7. Waiting for Stevie
8. Running
9. Something Special
10. Got to Give
11. Setting Sun
