Pearl Jam just released their most recent record Gigaton around two years ago, but guitarist Stone Gossard has confirmed that they've already recorded some songs for their next album.

Just as the rockers were set to head out on a North American tour in support of the album in March of 2020, the COVID pandemic shut it down, along with the rest of the world. The band held off on rescheduling the dates since then, as the state of touring was still risky as the numbers dropped and spiked over and over again, but now they'll officially be hitting the road later this year.

So they haven't even had the chance to tour in support of Gigaton yet, and they've already got a solid foundation for its follow-up. They aren't messing around.

“We’ve recorded some songs. We’re on our way. We’re making music," Gossard told Consequence's Podcast Network. “It’s important for us to maintain that irreverence to songwriting, in terms of like, just throwing rough vocals on, just taking stabs at stuff, trying stuff.”

Several members of Pearl Jam have also been busy with side projects and solo material since the release of Gigaton. Matt Cameron released music with his Nighttime Boogie Association band with Taylor Hawkins, Gossard's Painted Shield will release their second album in April and Eddie Vedder's third solo album Earthling just came out in February.

Vedder worked with Ozzy Osbourne producer Andrew Watt a bit on Earthling and played with him on its accompanying tour this year, so Pearl Jam have decided to work with him on their next record as well. Apparently he's a major Pearl Jam fan, and according to Gossard, he can play their songs better than they can.

“We’ve recorded a little bit with him, so we’ve got some things going already, and they're killer,” the guitarist revealed to Spin in a separate interview earlier this month. "We’re psyched. Andrew is a total character. Really, like immediately, we were writing quickly. Spontaneously. Bring in a riff. Let’s knock it out. Matt Cameron is playing his ass off. We didn’t bring any gear down. We were just doing some recording in Andrew’s basement in Beverly Hills, basically. So far, so good.”

Pearl Jam's 2022 tour kicks off in May and runs through September. See the full itinerary here.

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