In a new interview with Billboard, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron has offered a promising update on the long-awaited album the band was working on with vocalist Chris Cornell before his tragic passing in May 2017.
"There's not a set release date or anything as of yet," Cameron explained. "There were a couple schools of thought, like, 'Hey, let's put out a single.' I think eventually we decided we want to make sure the whole thing is completed before we start releasing singles. I'm excited for people to hear it."
According to Cameron, the record is "over halfway done," with guitarist Kim Thayil currently fine-tuning his contributions: "Kim is in the process of finishing his guitar parts; he wants to make sure they get exactly the way he wants them."
Working on the material has been an emotionally intense process for the surviving members of Soundgarden: "Emotionally it's been extreme highs and extreme lows. Hearing [Chris's] voice on these powerful hard rock songs is the most empowering thing in the world for me.
"Then I listen to his voice soloed up when I'm working on stuff, or if Kim or Ben [Shepherd] is working on something, and it all comes back to the fact that he's not with us and he left us in a way that has so many questions. It's been gut-wrenching but at the same time very empowering."
Back in May, Thayil shared similar optimism with Rolling Stone about seeing the new Soundgarden record through, stressing the importance of completing the album as a collective tribute: "Our objective and goal was always to complete that. I probably have OCD enough to not want to leave something unfinished or incomplete like that… I have pride for what I did and I want to see that come out.
"It doesn't exist in the vacuum. It exists as a collaboration with Matt and Ben and Chris, but it takes on an entirely different weight when you think about what it is you're honoring, and the work that you're paying tribute to. It is us collectively. We want to do it proud."
He added: "It would be a great gift to the fans. And I do think about this, and I don't know how strange this sounds, but I feel like it's a gift to Chris too."
The project's path forward was made possible after a lengthy legal dispute between Soundgarden and Cornell's widow Vicky Cornell was resolved in April 2023. At the time, both parties announced that they had reached "an amicable out-of-court resolution" regarding the use and release of Cornell's final recordings.
