Pearl Jam will release their twelfth studio album, Dark Matter, on Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records/Universal Music Canada on April 19, 2024 and launch a 35-date worldwide tour this May. The album’s title track is available now HERE. Produced by multi-GRAMMY award winning producer Andrew Watt, Dark Matter, marks the band’s first release since critically acclaimed Gigaton (2020).
Dark Matter is now available for pre-order HERE.
In 2023, the members of Pearl Jam—Eddie Vedder [vocals], Jeff Ament [bass], Stone Gossard [rhythm guitar], Mike McCready [lead guitar], and Matt Cameron [drums]—retreated to Shangri-La Studios in Malibu where they simply plugged in and played with producer Andrew Watt at the helm.
The musicians faced one another in the same space and communicated sonically at the highest level. Writing and recording in a burst of inspiration, Dark Matter was born in just three weeks.
As a result, Dark Matter 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. All of the blood, sweat, tears, and energy of a storied career felt renewed and poured into this one body of work.
The band members personally previewed the record with a listening party at the iconic Troubadour in West Hollywood during GRAMMY week:
Vedder said: “I’m getting chills, because I have good memories. We’re still looking for ways to communicate. We’re at this time in our lives when you could do it or you could not do it, but we still care about putting something out there that is meaningful and we hopefully think is our best work. No hyperbole, I think this is our best work.”
Ament added, “What Ed said about getting us in a room at this point, we felt like we were about to make a really important record. A lot of that had to do with the atmosphere Andrew set up. He has encyclopedic knowledge of our history, not only as a band and how we wrote songs, but as players. He could pinpoint things we did on old songs to the point where I was like, ‘What the fuck is he talking about?’ His excitement was contagious. He’s a force. I just want to say thanks for keeping us on track. I couldn’t be prouder of us as a band. I feel so grateful for the fans, but mostly for my brothers and these people I’ve made music with.”
The band is celebrating indie record stores with the release of a special edition of Dark Matter on April 20. Only at participating stores as part of Record Store Day. Get more information and find stores at www.recordstoreday.com
Dark Matter album packaging features light painting art by Alexandr Gnezdilov. Light painting is an artistic form of photography where images are created by adjusting a camera’s exposure for an extended period and using a light source, such as a flashlight, to “paint” in the dark. 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. See more info on Alexandr Gnezdilov below.
Photo Credit: Danny Clinch
Dark Matter Tracklist:
- Scared of Fear
- React, Respond
- Wreckage
- Dark Matter
- Won’t Tell
- Upper Hand
- Waiting for Stevie
- Running
- Something Special
- Got to Give
- Setting Sun
In support of Dark Matter, Pearl Jam will head out on a world tour this year, marking the first time the band has announced a new album and tour simultaneously and first time the group has unveiled all worldwide tour dates at once. Their global tour, hitting nine countries and 25 cities, kicks off at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, and will cover much of North America including shows at Wrigley Field, Madison Square Garden, Fenway Park, and their first hometown performance in six years at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, the world’s first net zero certified arena.
The tour continues with performances in the UK and Europe, including their first performance at London’s brand new and state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, through September, followed by the group’s long-awaited ten-year return to New Zealand and Australia this November. Full routing below.
Special guests Deep Sea Diver (North America Leg 1), Glen Hansard (North America Leg 2), The Murder Capital (UK/EU), Richard Ashcroft (Dublin and London) and Pixies (Australia and New Zealand) will serve as support for these dates.
Tickets will be available two ways:
- A Ten Club members-only presale will be held through Ticketmaster Request for eligible members.Only paid Ten Club members active as of Monday, February 12 are eligible to participate in this presale. More info at pearljam.com
- Fans can register for a chance to participate in the Dark Matter World Tour 2024 registration sale at shops.ticketmasterpartners.com/pearl-jamby Sunday, February 18 at 11:59 PM local time for Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand shows and by Sunday, February 18 at 11:59 pm PT for North America shows. This will be the only way for fans to participate in the onsale. Registration does not guarantee access to the sale.
The tour will use all-in pricing across all North America, Europe and UK shows to ensure the ticket price listed is the full out-of-pocket price inclusive of fees.
For fans in North America who can’t use their tickets, Pearl Jam and Ticketmaster will offer a Fan-to-Fan Face Value Ticket Exchange beginning at a later date to give fans the best chance to buy tickets at face value. To help protect the Exchange, Pearl Jam has also chosen to make tickets for this tour mobile only and restricted from transfer. This applies to all shows except those in Illinois and New York where non-transferability is prohibited by law. You must have a valid bank account or debit card within the country of the event(s) in order to sell through the Fan-to-Fan Face Value Ticket Exchange.
Dark Matter World Tour Dates:
Date City Venue
May 04 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
May 06 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
May 10 Portland, OR Moda Center
May 13 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center
May 16 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 18 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 21 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
May 22 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
May 25** Napa Valley, CA BottleRock Festival
May 28 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
May 30 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
Jun 22 Dublin, IE Marlay Park
Jun 25 Manchester, UK Manchester Co-Op Live
Jun 29 London, UK Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Jul 02 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
Jul 03 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
Jul 06 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
Jul 08 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
Jul 11** Madrid, SE Mad Cool Festival
Jul 13** Lisbon, PT NOS Alive Festival
Aug 22 Missoula, MT Washington-Grizzly Stadium
Aug 26* Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Music Center
Aug 29 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
Aug 31 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
Sep 03 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Sep 04 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Sep 07 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sep 09 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Sep 12 Baltimore, MD CFG Bank Arena
Sep 15 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Sep 17 Boston, MA Fenway Park
Nov 08 Auckland, NZ Go Media Stadium Mt Smart
Nov 13 Gold Coast, AU Heritage Bank Stadium
Nov 16 Melbourne, AU Marvel Stadium
Nov 21 Sydney, AU Giants Stadium
* Rescheduled date from 2022 ** Festival dates are already on sale
Pearl Jam is an alternative rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1990. The band’s lineup consists of bassist Jeff Ament, rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, lead guitarist Mike McCready, lead singer/guitarist Eddie Vedder and drummer Matt Cameron. Thirty plus years of live performances, twelve studio albums and hundreds of official live concert bootleg releases later, Pearl Jam continues to be critically acclaimed and commercially successful. The band has sold over 85 million albums worldwide and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. Since the earliest days, Pearl Jam has used its platform to elevate people and causes that often go unnoticed or underserved. Much of the band’s philanthropic work is accomplished through its Vitalogy Foundation which to date has raised more than $50 million for organizations supporting issues such as abortion access, climate change and homelessness, and drawing attention to the fight against diseases such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis and epidermolysis bullosa (EB). In addition to the money Vitalogy donates, the band also donates signed instruments, posters and merchandise to organizations to use for their own fundraising purposes. Compounding the impact of Vitalogy Foundation, the band has supported Jeff Ament’s Montana Pool Service building skate parks in Montana and South Dakota. Pearl Jam also lends its voice to notable causes like the West Memphis 3, voting rights and fair ticketing practices. Over the past three decades, the band has a long history of standing up for what it believes in and putting its resources behind those beliefs. Through its innovative Ten Club and fan engagement, community building, coveted poster designs, and longstanding activism and philanthropy, Pearl Jam continues to have a lasting impact on generations of music lovers.
The name Andrew Watt in recent years has become synonymous with one very true phrase: the music industry’s not-so-secret weapon. Since 2015, the multi-GRAMMY-winning and platinum-selling music producer has been a hit-making machine, having collaborated with some of the last decade’s most exciting, and ground-breaking artists, including including Justin Bieber, Ozzy Osbourne, Cardi B., Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Metallica, Stevie Wonder, Miley Cyrus, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes, Elton John, Lana Del Rey, Mick Jagger, Brandi Carlile, Paul McCartney, Smokey Robinson and Lady Gaga, to name a few. In 2021, Watt took home his first GRAMMY Award for “Producer of the Year” at the 63rd annual GRAMMY Awards for his work on Ozzy Osbourne’s Ordinary Man, Miley Cyrus’ Plastic Hearts, both of which he executive-produced, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, which took home the GRAMMY that year for Best Pop Vocal Album, and Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding, which was nominated for Album of the Year. The following year saw Watt produce the widely publicized and critically acclaimed Elton John and Britney Spears collaboration “Hold Me Closer,” the entirety of Eddie Vedder’s solo release Earthling, and Ozzy Osbourne’s GRAMMY Award winning Patient Number 9, which earned Watt his second GRAMMY win for “Best Metal Album” at the 65th GRAMMY Awards. 2023 was also a stellar year for Watt, kicking off the top of the year with the release of Iggy Pop’s long-awaited 19th studio album, Every Loser, released via an exclusive partnership between Atlantic Records and Watt’s own Gold Tooth Records. This past summer also saw a slew of high profile and record-breaking releases on which Watt is credited as co-writer and co-producer, including; The Kid LAROI’s single “Forever and Again” which was released as part of the Barbiemovie soundtrack, and Jungkook’s “Seven,” which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and amassed a record-breaking 217.1 million streams and 269,000 downloads in just its first week of release. Watt ended the year with the release of “Hackney Diamonds,” The Rolling Stones’ first album of original music in 18 years, which was fully produced by Watt. The album’s lead single “Angry” earned Watt a GRAMMY Nomination for “Best Rock Song” for his work co-writing and producing the track.
Alexandr Gnezdilov created the light photography art for the cover of Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter single and album along with the featured lettering. His work is also utilized throughout the Dark Mattercampaign. His interest in photography began at an early age in Moldova where he spent his childhood before expanding to explore long exposure and light painting techniques after moving to Germany in 2001. Alexandr created the cover of Dark Matter using a large self made kaleidoscope with each letter visible on the cover individually captured, handwritten midair with a specially designed flashlight to create the pearlescent effect. His artwork has been featured in multiple exhibitions including collaborations with the State Theatre of Nuremberg and has been licensed for the past decade for articles, news and commercials. Gnezdilov lives in Nuremberg, Germany with his wife and two sons and works primarily as a software engineer. When not working, Alexandr’s other passions include music and he recently released his debut album Space Wire with his band “Pulsar Clock.”
