2018 saw the release of Return To Mount Kennedy, a documentary about Robert F. Kennedy climbing a mountain named after his brother, the late president JFK. Pearl Jam leader Eddie Vedder recorded the soundtrack for the film, but it has yet to be released. Now, though, he has shared one song from it, “Cartography,” as part of Sub Pop’s singles club series.
The instrumental acoustic guitar and piano track runs shy of three minutes and is closer to American primitivism and Vedder’s solo material than it is to Pearl Jam’s typical rocking sound. The B-side of the release is a remix of the song by Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner, which plays up the song’s ambient qualities and samples Robert Kennedy dialogue.
Vedder said in a statement, “Listening to the speech delivered by Bobby Kennedy in regards to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago, you are reminded that once again we are at a moment in time when our society can and must do better. Voting is our most powerful form of nonviolent protest. And those whom we vote for must be made deeply aware that the issues of equality and justice in America are of the utmost importance and need to be not only restored but taken to the next level. NOW.”
Listen to “Cartography” above.
