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Dark Matter (Pearl Jam album)

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Dark Matter
Studio album by
Pearl Jam
ReleasedApril 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
Recorded2021; 2023
StudioShangri-La, Malibu, California
Genre
Length48:21
Label
ProducerAndrew Watt
Pearl Jam chronology
Give Way
(2023) 		Dark Matter
(2024)
Singles from Dark Matter
  1. "Dark Matter"
    Released: February 13, 2024
  2. "Running"
    Released: March 22, 2024
  3. "Wreckage"
    Released: April 17, 2024
  4. "Waiting for Stevie"
    Released: September 10, 2024

Dark Matter is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released on April 19, 2024, through Monkeywrench Records and Republic Records. Produced by Andrew Watt, the album was preceded by the singles "Dark Matter", "Running" and "Wreckage".

Recorded at Shangri-La in Malibu, California and Watt's home studio, the album is the first to feature contributions from touring and session member Josh Klinghoffer, who joined the band on its 2022–2023 Gigaton Tour. The album marked a return to the band working together as a five-piece in a fast-paced studio environment, in contrast to their previous studio album, Gigaton (2020), which was recorded over several years and individual sessions.

The album was released to widespread critical acclaim, and was accompanied by the Dark Matter World Tour. The album received Grammy nominations for Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song ("Dark Matter"), and Best Rock Performance ("Dark Matter").[2]

Background and recording

[edit]

After successfully working together on frontman Eddie Vedder's 2022 studio album, Earthling, record producer Andrew Watt was enlisted to produce Pearl Jam's twelfth studio album. The band's first recording sessions for Dark Matter took place in February 2021 at Watt's home studio, which yielded the first two tracks, "Scared of Fear" and "React, Respond".

The majority of Dark Matter was recorded over three weeks in 2023[3] at Shangri-La in Malibu, California and, according to a press release, "channels the shared spirit of a group of lifelong creative confidants and brothers in one room playing as if their very lives depended on it".[4] On November 29, 2023, drummer Matt Cameron revealed that they finished a record with assistance from Andrew Watt and that it was "mastered, mixed, ready to go" at the time.[5] On January 5, 2024, guitarist Mike McCready described the album as "a lot heavier" than one might expect, saying that recording was less time-consuming than for their previous record Gigaton, mostly thanks to the involvement from Watt, who was said to have "kicked [their] asses".[6] Later that month, on January 31, the band and Watt debuted Dark Matter in front of a group of fans at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California, without revealing lyrics or song titles. During the event, Eddie Vedder opined that this is their best work to date and how he could not be prouder of the band.[7]

The album's packaging features light painting art by Alexandr Gnezdilov. The album cover art was crafted using a large self-made kaleidoscope. Each letter visible on the cover was individually captured and handwritten midair with a specially designed flashlight to create the pearlescent effect.[8]

On February 13, Pearl Jam announced the album alongside the release of the title track as a lead single.[9] The single was Consequence of Sound's album of the week.[10]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[11]
Metacritic81/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Classic Rock[13]
The Independent9/10[14]
Kerrang!5/5[15]
Mojo[16]
NME[17]
Pitchfork6.4/10[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
SpinA−[20]
Uncut8/10[21]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Dark Matter received "universal acclaim" with a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 from 17 critics. Ultimate Classic Rock said "With cutting lyrics and slicing riffs, Eddie Vedder and the band delivered their most satisfying album since the '90s."[22] Uncut called it "a fretful and ferocious record, lyrically much preoccupied with things having ended or appearing about to end, but musically much more blaze of glory than any kind of funeral pyre".[21]

Pitchfork's Zach Shonfeld offered measured praise of the album, stating that "Dark Matter plays like another solid late-era Pearl Jam record, reliable but not revelatory" and highlighted "Wreckage" and "Upper Hand", the latter of which he said "ranks among the best Pearl Jam songs this century". Shonfeld described "Waiting for Stevie" (which Vedder said in a Howard Stern interview had originated when he and Watt were idly waiting for Stevie Wonder to show up and record a harmonica part for Vedder's solo album Earthling) as a "meaty, anthemic rocker of the kind the band has largely shied away from this side of Y2K" that had "already become a favorite in the PJ fan community".[18]

Commercial performance

[edit]

On the US Billboard 200, Dark Matter debuted at number five with 59,000 album-equivalent units, marking the band's thirteenth top 10 album. Of that sum, it sold 52,000 physical units, including 24,000 vinyl copies, helped by its availability in twelve different vinyl color variants. As of August 2024, the album has earned over 107,000 equivalent album units in the United States.[23] The singles "Dark Matter" and "Wreckage" have also enjoyed success, both topping the Mainstream Rock Airplay, the band's first number ones since 1997's "Given to Fly" and marking the first time ever the band has had two number one songs on the chart from the same album.

Dark Matter World Tour

[edit]

On February 13, 2024, Pearl Jam announced they would embark on a 2024 world tour in promotion of Dark Matter, titled Dark Matter World Tour. On April 16, 2024, Pearl Jam made a promotional visualization "experience" in select movie theaters featuring the album being played in the dark with the album being played again in a visualization sequence, for one night only.[24]

The Dark Matter World Tour unfolds over four legs.[25]

Track listing

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Eddie Vedder; all music is composed by Pearl Jam and Andrew Watt, except "Something Special" by Pearl Jam, Watt and Josh Klinghoffer.

Dark Matter track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Scared of Fear"4:25
2."React, Respond"3:30
3."Wreckage"5:00
4."Dark Matter"3:31
5."Won't Tell"3:28
6."Upper Hand"5:57
7."Waiting For Stevie"5:41
8."Running"2:19
9."Something Special"4:06
10."Got to Give"4:37
11."Setting Sun"5:45
Total length:48:21

Personnel

[edit]

Pearl Jam

Additional musicians

  • Andrew Watt – guitar, piano, keyboards, backing vocals (on "Running" and "Got to Give")
  • Josh Klinghoffer – piano, keyboards, guitar
  • Mark Smith  – backing vocals (on "Running")

Production personnel

  • Bryce Bordone – mix engineering, mixing assistance
  • John Burton – additional engineering
  • Matt Colton – mastering
  • Chelsea Fodero – production coordination
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
  • Paul LaMalfa – engineering
  • Marco Sonzini – engineering
  • Tommy Turner – engineering assistance
  • Marc VanGool – guitar technician, studio assistance
  • Andrew Watt – producer
  • Gregg White – engineering assistance

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Dark Matter
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29] 3
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[30] 9
Croatian International Albums (HDU)[31] 2
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[32] 17
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[33] 2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[34] 13
French Albums (SNEP)[35] 13
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[36] 2
Greek Albums (IFPI)[37] 24
Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[38] 16
Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)[39] 7
Irish Albums (OCC)[40] 2
Italian Albums (FIMI)[41] 3
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[42] 29
Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon)[43] 25
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[44] 27
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[45] 3
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[46] 4
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[47] 2
Scottish Albums (OCC)[48] 2
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[49] 3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[50] 21
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[51] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[52] 2
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[53] 1
US Billboard 200[54] 5
US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard)[55] 1
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[56] 1
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[57] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[58] 1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Dark Matter – Pearl Jam | Album". AllMusic. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  2. ^ Carter, Emily (November 8, 2024). "Spiritbox, Knocked Loose, Green Day, Pearl Jam and more nominated for Grammys". Kerrang!.
  3. ^ Hudson, Alex (February 13, 2024). "Pearl Jam Tease New Album Dark Matter, Single Out Tonight". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  4. ^ Zemler, Emily (February 13, 2024). "Pearl Jam Preview New Album With Electrifying Single Dark Matter". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  5. ^ "Pearl Jam's New Album Is 'Mastered, Mixed' And 'Ready To Go'". Blabbermouth.net. November 29, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  6. ^ "Mike McCready: New Pearl Jam album is "a lot heavier than you'd expect"". Revolver. January 5, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  7. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (January 31, 2024). "Pearl Jam Unveil Upcoming Album At Daytime L.A. Playback". Spin. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  8. ^ "New Album, Dark Matter, Out April 19, 2024". Pearl Jam. February 12, 2024. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  9. ^ Brandle, Lars (February 13, 2024). "Pearl Jam Unleashes "Dark Matter", Sets New Album". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  10. ^ "Pearl Jam's "Dark Matter" is Our Song of the Week". February 16, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  11. ^ "Dark Matter by Pearl Jam". Metacritic. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  12. ^ "Dark Matter by Pearl Jam Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  13. ^ Johnston, Emma (April 18, 2024). ""They've gone out of their way to turn up the dial and make things as heavy as possible": Pearl Jam sweep the pretenders away on Dark Matter". Classic Rock. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  14. ^ Hoggard, Alexander (April 17, 2024). "Pearl Jam and Lucy Rose are among the acts hitting the right notes with their latest album releases". The Independent. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  15. ^ Garner, George (April 15, 2024). "Album review: Pearl Jam – Dark Matter". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  16. ^ Cameron, Keith (April 18, 2024). "Pearl Jam Dark Matter Review: Seattle giants' twelfth album hits like a triple espresso". Mojo. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  17. ^ Dunworth, Liberty (April 17, 2024). "Pearl Jam – Dark Matter review: some of their strongest work in recent memory". NME. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Schonfeld, Zach. "Pearl Jam: Dark Matter". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  19. ^ Lonsdale, John (April 17, 2024). "Pearl Jam Dig Deep and Find a New Light on Dark Matter". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  20. ^ Enos, Morgan (April 19, 2024). "Pearl Jam Get Even Pearl Jammier on Dark Matter". Spin. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
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  22. ^ Gallucci, Michael (April 16, 2024). "Pearl Jam, Dark Matter: Album Review". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  23. ^ Rutherford, Kevin (August 2, 2024). "Pearl Jam Returns to No. 1 on Adult Alternative Airplay Chart With "Wreckage"". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
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  37. ^ "Official IFPI Charts − Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) − Εβδομάδα: 19/2024" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  38. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2024. 19. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  39. ^ "Tónlistinn – Plötur – Vika 17 – 2024" [The Music – Albums – Week 17 – 2024] (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
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  48. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
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  50. ^ "Veckolista Album, vecka 17". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  51. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Pearl Jam – Dark Matter". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
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  53. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  54. ^ "Pearl Jam Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  55. ^ "Pearl Jam Chart History: Top Rock & Alternative Albums". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  56. ^ "Pearl Jam Chart History: Top Alternative Albums". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  57. ^ "Pearl Jam Chart History: Top Hard Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
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