Get a glimpse of what went into creating Pearl Jam”s new album, “Lightning Bolt,” in this 9-minute short promo piece directed by famed photographer Danny Clinch.
The five band members-Eddie Vedder, Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and Jeff Ament-field questions from Clinch, director Judd Apatow, “Portlandia” star/musician Carrie Brownstein, surfer Mark Richards and paralyzed NFL safety Steve Gleason.
“If you”re paying attention to what”s going on on the planet, I feel like I can find something to be angry about pretty quick,” Vedder says, addressing the album”s sometimes confrontational tone (as exemplified in first single, “Mind Your Manners.” “Everyone”s kind of playing out of their minds on this record,” he says.
Ament talks about writing “Sirens,” current single (and, in my mind, one of the most beautiful songs ever written by Pearl Jam) and the reaction to hearing Vedder”s stirring lyrics. “He”s got a lot of words right now,” Gossard says.
Not surprisingly, avid surfer Vedder compares writing a song to surfing. “The wave is actually the sound, the words are the board. Surfing is pretty easy once you”re on the wave and so is songwriting, but you can spend a lot of days out there paddling around and not getting anything.”
In addition to “Mind Your Manners” and “Sirens,” fans can also hear snippets of four other songs from the album: “Lightning Bolt,” “Future Days” and “Getaway.”
“Lightning Bolt,” the band’s first album since 2009’s “Backspacer,” comes out Oct. 15.