Soundgarden’s new album features eight songs with vocals from late frontman Chris Cornell.
The band hit the studio to work on new material with the Black Hole Sun singer prior to his death in 2017 and now drummer Matt Cameron has confirmed they are in the final stages of production after a “long process” of trying to get the record “over the finish line”.
During an appearance on the Let There Be Talk podcast, Cameron said: “We’re just gonna try to get this thing mixed, get it over the finish line, and then hopefully we’ll have a better idea what’s gonna come next.
“We’re just taking it one step at a time ’cause it’s been kind of a long process just to get to here.”
He added there are eight songs which feature Chris’ vocals and there are still some tracks they need to finish, saying: “I think that that’s pretty much all there is with vocals.
“We had some instrumentals left over that [guitarist] Kim [Thayil] wants work on. So maybe we’ll do some new stuff together, which would be fine by me.”
On the eighth anniversary of the grunge legend’s death (18.05.25) last year, bassist Ben Shepherd revealed the band were working on the lost album, which is “yet to be named”, suggesting it could be released in the future.
When listening back to their music, the musician revealed feels an “overwhelming hit of awe camaraderie, power of creativity, majesty even, and love.”
In a post on Instagram, he wrote: “As I wait for my son Noah to get out of school today I’m thinking about … well actually its stuck in my head and’s been there since early this morning like a proud spring bird dammit.
“Its a song Chris and Matt wrote The Road Less Traveled for our album that has yet to be named, just hearing Chris’ voice helps, I know he did that for everyone he knew … help them, he did for me, filled with self doubt and indebtedness and in just his tone knew what I was going through and forgave me like he always did even when he was older.
“It’s at this point of recording all of our previous albums I’d get this overwhelming hit of awe, camaraderie, power of creativity, majesty even, and love, from the music, and my bandmates … and I guess just pure life force.
“I can tell you, it feels good and invigorating to hear Chris singing from over that horizon and hear the mighty … mighty life, of souls sharing. To hear, as a fan … and band member, a song or two Chris brought in a few years ago turn before my very ears and finger blisters into a full blown Soundgarden tune is like feeling a glacier fall away off your chest. (sic)”