Next year, Pearl Jam will finally be able to tour behind their most recent album, 2020’s Gigaton, but guitarist Stone Gossard is already looking ahead to the band’s next record, which he says may be a distinct left turn for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.
Referring to some of the more unexpected moments from Gigaton, like “Dance of the Clairvoyants,” Gossard tells Kerrang!, “There’s some new territory there, and I think it bodes well for whatever comes next. I think we’re still scratching the surface in terms of what really could be significantly different sounding songs.”
He adds, “I guess I would probably compare [what I’m thinking of] to an OK Computer/Kid A moment, thinking about Radiohead’s transformation and the journey that they went on.”
Of course, OK Computer marked a huge change, stylistically, sonically and lyrically, for Radiohead, and the 1997 album is now hailed as one of the greatest of all time. But Gossard won’t go as far as to say the next Pearl Jam album will be that disruptive.
“It’s not going to be OK Computer, obviously, but a moment where we stumble onto something that is significantly different…that prospect always intrigues me,” he explains to Kerrang! “I’d like to make another record that really shocks people — that makes them go, ‘Wow, that’s unexpected!"”
Pearl Jam’s 2021 concert schedule consists of several appearances at front man Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Festival, which is running over two weekends: September 24-26, and October 1-2. Pearl Jam will headline the festival’s September 26 date, as well as both October dates.
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