Pearl Jam on how Chris Cornell's death affected their new album

Pearl Jam are working on a new album for a while, but the work isn’t finished yet. One of the reasons was how affected the members were by Chris Cornell‘s death in May 2017.

The band’s bassist Jeff Ament recently talked to Rolling Stone about their plans to release new music, working on Cornell’s box set, and more.

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“I think when Chris [Cornell] passed, that’s really been a tough one to wrap our heads around,” Ament says. “And then there’s just life stuff.”

This is how the musician explains what has been happening to the band since the release of Lightning Bolt in 2013. The band have been in and out of the studio, but haven’t really finished any songs yet.

“We’ve gone in, probably, four or five times in the last couple of years, so we have a whole ton of unfinished stuff,” Ament continues.

“We’re just sort of in a little bit of limbo. I’m sure everybody’s got a bunch more riffs, and I’m sure Ed’s got a handful of journal lyrics. It’s just going to take us all getting into a room together for six weeks and just knocking something out.”

Ament also talked to Rolling Stone about working on the special box set of Cornell’s work, put together by the late Soundgarden frontman’s widow, Vicky. The bassist was a creative director for the project, and worked screen-printing images of the frontman for the box.

“That was hard,” he shares. “Vicky [Cornell] had asked me to get involved with it, and over the course of the years, Chris would often reach out. I remember with the Audioslave record and a couple of his solo records, he would send me the artwork. Even the last solo record, I mocked up some ideas.”

“I think he appreciated my sensibilities when it came to that stuff,” he goes on. “So it was pretty hard to go down that path, creating that stuff and listening to the music. It’s just another reminder that he’s not here, and that just sucks. It really sucks.”

Cornell unexpectedly died in May 2017 at the age of 52.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental illness, there is help to be found. Please consider these online resources and talk to your regular doctor about your symptoms:

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