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Matt Cameron on final Soundgarden songs: “Everything is on hold right now”

Drummer Matt Cameron says that Soundgarden are “still in the middle of a dispute with the estate” about their final recordings with Chris Cornell – but he has confirmed that Pearl Jam’s new album is “in the can, mastered, mixed, ready to go”.

Matt Cameron on final Soundgarden songs: “Everything is on hold right now”
Words:
Emily Carter

Despite Soundgarden reaching “an amicable out-of-court resolution” with Vicky Cornell in April with regards to the band’s final songs with Chris Cornell, drummer Matt Cameron has said they’re currently “still in the middle of a dispute with the estate”.

In a recent interview on The Vinyl Guide podcast (listen below), the drum legend has said that he hasn’t given up “hope” of releasing this long-awaited music with the grunge icons’ late frontman, but it doesn’t seem likely that it’ll see the light of day in 2024.

“I don’t think so, unfortunately,” replies Matt, when asked if those as-yet-unheard Soundgarden recordings will come out next year (via pearljamonline). “We’re still in the middle of a dispute with the estate and… Everything is on hold right now, and I can’t really go into details unfortunately. But as of right now, no, it doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen next year. But hopefully soon – I’m not giving up hope.”

This update from Matt follows the joint statement between Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell on behalf of the Estate of Chris Cornell earlier in the year, in which it was announced that a “reconciliation” between the two would “allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on”.

In more concrete news, though, Matt does reveal how things have been going in the Pearl Jam camp, with a follow-up to 2020’s Gigaton seemingly complete.

“We did make a record with Andrew Watt that’s in the can, mastered, mixed, ready to go,” he says. “And so I think the powers that be are trying to figure out, you know, when that’s gonna come out and touring and all that kind of stuff.”

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