Pearl Jam – “Superblood Wolfmoon”

Pearl Jam – “Superblood Wolfmoon”

It’s been a long seven year wait for Pearl Jam’s new album Gigaton, a wait they have often not been too keen on speeding up. Each step of Gigaton’s rollout has come with a bit of teasing. First, there was an augmented reality scavenger hunt hinting at the album’s existence. A couple days later, it was officially announced, and the following week the album’s lead single “Dance Of The Clairvoyants” finally materialized. Since then, we’ve heard a snippet of “River Cross” in a Super Bowl commercial, but that’s not the new single.

Instead, the followup to “Dance Of The Clairvoyants” comes in the form of “Superblood Wolfmoon.” Once more, the band toyed with some augmented reality tricks to entice fans ahead of the single’s arrival. This time around, you could point your phone at the moon and get a little preview of “Superblood Wolfmoon.” But as of today, you can hear the song anywhere, anytime, no moon required.

In some band quotes surrounding “Dance Of The Clairvoyants,” it was suggested that Gigaton might be a return to some of the more experimental paths Pearl Jam favored in their middle years, between their grunge celebrity origins and their latter-day (mostly) back-to-basics rock sound. “Dance Of The Clairvoyants” supported this idea, with a whole lot of sounds and elements we’re not used to hearing in a Pearl Jam song, and Eddie Vedder channeling a bit of David Byrne in his vocal phrasings.

Even the weirdest Pearl Jam albums have straightahead rockers on them, though, and that’s what “Superblood Wolfmoon” is. As much as “Dance Of The Clairvoyants” was surprising and took a minute to get your head around, “Superblood Wolfmoon” is a song that exists very comfortably in Pearl Jam’s wheelhouse. You could picture them writing a song like this at almost any point in their career, though while it might breeze by on first listen, some of Vedder’s melodies will start to sneak in your head soon after. Check it out below.

Gigaton is out 3/27 on UMG. Pre-order it here.

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