Dark Matter

Pearl Jam

Released on 19/04/2024 by Pearl Jam - Monkeywrench
Main artists: Pearl Jam
Genre: Rock

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Dark Matter arrives relatively quickly on the heels of Gigaton, an urgent warning call coincidentally delivered at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teeming with apoplectic energy, Gigaton activated Pearl Jam's collective muscle memory, tapping into the messianic fervor that ran through the band's earliest records. Dark Matter doesn't traffic in that sense of righteousness, choosing instead to concentrate on replicating the sound and form of their '90s heyday. The conduit for this conversion is Andrew Watt, a producer who wasn't yet a year old when Pearl Jam released Ten, who nevertheless cultivated a reputation as a classic rock rejuvenator partially due to records like Earthling, Eddie Vedder's bright and colorful solo record from 2022. After Earthling, Watt managed to shepherd records by Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, and the Rolling Stones that felt like their iconic work while also still sounding fresh. He repeats that trick on Dark Matter, crafting a record that hints at the heights of Ten and Vs. without precisely sounding like either -- there's too much sonic separation, too much punch, too much digital sheen to be mistaken for a Brendan O'Brien production. Pearl Jam is older, too. Not only are they not as interested in exorcising demons, but they're also unlikely to stray from their chosen path. Lacking the aimless detours that gave Vs. and Vitalogy an off-kilter charm, Dark Matter is streamlined and purposeful, never overstaying its welcome on either the ballads or rockers. While that can be a slight detriment on the album's loudest number -- combined, the sleek sound and concise compositions give the faintest suggestion of restraint -- the efficiency is ultimately to the band's benefit, highlighting their empathetic interplay by pushing melodies and hooks to the forefront. "Scared of Fear" and "React, Respond" provide a bracing opening to the record but Dark Matter is at its most compelling at its quietest moments ("Setting Sun" provides a suitably contemplative closer) and on "Waiting for Stevie," a song that summons Pearl Jam's inherent sense of majestic melodrama. "Waiting for Stevie" suggests the days where the horizon seems boundless, an aesthetic that used to be the unifying force on Pearl Jam records, but here it's used as an effective flair on an album that, above all, aims to please. That impulse is rare for Pearl Jam and it's satisfying to hear them play to their strengths throughout Dark Matter.

© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

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Dark Matter

Pearl Jam

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Scared Of Fear