Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder will release his first solo album in more than a decade, “Earthling,” on Feb. 11, 2022 via his own Seattle Surf imprint through Republic. The project was introduced in September by the single “Long Way,” and another new song, the piano- and acoustic guitar-tinged ballad “The Haves,” was released this morning, accompanied by a lyric video.
As previously reported, “Earthling” was produced by reigning Grammy producer of the year Andrew Watt and recorded at his Beverly Hills studio. A lifelong Pearl Jam fan, Watt is also a member of Vedder’s new solo band the Earthlings, which made its live debut in late September at the Ohana festival in Dana Point, Calif. The group also includes Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer, multi-instrumentalist Glen Hansard, bassist Pino Palladino and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.
A track list for “Earthling” has not yet been released, but a limited-edition 7-inch vinyl single of “Long Way” backed by “The Haves” is now available to order through Pearl Jam’s Ten Club fan organization.
“There was something there right away that I wanted to chase and finish,” Watt previously told PvNew about his initial jam sessions with Vedder this spring, which yielded “Long Way.” “It was just the right place and the right time and it all happened very organically. It sounds like people playing together in a room, which is what a good rock song should be.”
Pearl Jam will perform tonight alongside Ed Sheeran, Brandi Carlile and the Jonas Brothers during the virtual fundraiserVentureIntoCures, which will raise money and awareness for the genetic skin disorderEpidermolysis Bullosa (EB).
Today also sees the release of “I Am Mine,” Vedder’s installment in Audible’s Words + Music series. In it, he tells origin stories and performs solo versions of classic songs such as “Immortality,” “Porch” and “Better Man,” recalls a pivotal night in his life in November 1989 at a Joe Strummer show in San Diego and reminisces about the challenges of dealing with Pearl Jam’s sudden rise to fame in the early 1990s, including a particular period following the October 1993 release of the album “Vs.” when he barely left his house.
“I had this cool house in Seattle, like an old ‘70s Northwest architecture house on an end of a street,” he says. “I had a basement and that’s kind of where I spent all my time. And then I started smoking cigarettes and then I’d start like, spray-painting words on the wall — like, a hallway would just say ‘happenstance.’ Then I’d make sculptures out of duct tape on another wall and I would just never leave. I had a pinball machine. I would just stay in the laundry room and play pinball. I would never go out and I was by myself a lot. But I had typewriters, and the Italian dentist I got the house from, he put in a little wine room. So I’d sit in this tiny, cozy, little wine room, dark, with a candle and cigarette and a bunch of wine, just by myself. It was a weird time.”
Vedder and Pearl Jam will return to the road in May 2022 to make up the 2020 North American tour dates originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Details will be announced early next year.
Audible · I Am Mine – Eddie Vedder on fame
