SOUNDGARDEN Begins Mixing Final Eight-Song Album: 'That's All There Is With Vocals', Says MATT CAMERON

During an appearance on the latest episode of Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast, drummer Matt Cameron discussed the album he and the other surviving members of SOUNDGARDEN are working on featuring previously unreleased recordings they made with late frontman Chris Cornell before his 2017 death. Cameron, guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd are collaborating with producer Terry Date, who previously helmed SOUNDGARDEN's "Louder Than Love" (1989) and "Badmotorfinger" (1991) LPs, with the mixing sessions currently taking place with Joe Barresi, a producer, engineer and mixer who as previously worked with AVENGED SEVENFOLD, VOLBEAT, SLIPKNOT, MONSTER MAGNET, BAD RELIGION and many, many other big rock acts.

Asked if the music for the upcoming SOUNDGARDEN album was recorded before the band's final tour, Matt said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. We'd been sending demos back and forth since, like, 2013, '14, something like that. I would send Chris some stuff. He would rearrange it, make a song out of it… I sent him three tracks, and then he would sing on top of the instrumentals that I'd written and rearrange them and everything. And then we started getting together in, like, 2015, '16 at a couple of different studios, so we were preparing to make another album before that last tour in 2017. We recorded all the rehearsals and everything. And we did start writing a bunch of stuff together. But the stuff we're working on now was from when... We are using some of the live rehearsal stuff, like some of the guitar stuff that Chris played guitar on, and then we're using the vocals from these demos that he put together, with the music that we had written together. And, yeah, just kind of building on top of that."

Asked how many songs will appear on the new SOUNDGARDEN album, Matt said: "Eight songs. I think that that's pretty much all there is with vocals. We had some instrumentals left over that Kim wants work on. So maybe we'll do some new stuff together, which would be fine by me."

Regarding when fans can expect the new SOUNDGARDEN LP to surface, Matt said: "Well, we don't really have a [release] date yet. We're just gonna try to get this thing mixed, get it over the finish line, and then hopefully we'll have a better idea what's gonna come next. We're just taking it one step at a time 'cause it's been kind of a long process just to get to here."

On the topic of the creative and emotional weight associated with completing the tracks as a heartfelt tribute to his late bandmate, Matt said: "Well, I'd been listening to those demos since we recorded them together. And I always thought there's three or four really, really strong songs. So, I'm really looking forward to getting it done and putting it out there. And I'm hoping the reaction won't be too intense for people, but I know that it will be because it has been for us. But I think at this stage of the game, we've been listening to it so much that I think we've built a little bit of a callus up to the emotional side of it, and we're just trying to get all the tracks. And it sounds like SOUNDGARDEN. It's just like we're working on a SOUNDGARDEN album. We are."

During the chat, Cameron also discussed his July 2025 departure from PEARL JAM after a nearly three-decade run with the band. Asked if there is "animosity" between him and the PEARL JAM members or if he "quit" the group, Matt said: "Oh, no. I pretty much quit. There was no animosity at all. We're all on good terms, for sure. But I wanted to finish up this SOUNDGARDEN project and kind of just put all my attention into that with no sort of tour commitments and things like that. So, that was the initial push, for sure. And I just wanted to do some other things and kind of pursue more creative pursuits at this stage of the game, while I still can. I'm kind of in chapter three right now. And I'm trying to just pick and choose the things that are more creatively satisfying right now for me. And so that's kind of what I'm doing."

Cameron started playing drums professionally at age 14 in various cover bands in San Diego. He took private lessons from ages 17-19 with Jon Szanto from the San Diego Symphony. Matt moved to Seattle at age 20 (1983). He played in a variety of bands, and instantly found the creative local music scene very inspiring. While in Seattle, Matt met lots of creative people, including neighbor Kim. Kim's new band, SOUNDGARDEN, needed a new drummer, so Matt joined the pioneering Seattle grunge act and played with them from 1986 until 1997. They toured the world many times over, met lots of great people and won two Grammy Awards. Soon after the band broke up, Matt was asked to join PEARL JAM in 1998. Matt also took pride in his various side project bands (HATER, WELLWATER CONSPIRACY) and studio work (Tony Iommi, ELEVEN, Geddy Lee).

In 2010, SOUNDGARDEN reunited for new tour and released a new album, "King Animal", on November 13, 2012. The band effectively split up again following Cornell's death in May 2017.

This past May, Kim told LifeMinute editor-in-chief Joann Butler about SOUNDGARDEN's upcoming LP: "This material has been in existence for over 10 years in some cases, 14, 15 years. It was in various stages of writing, sharing, learning, recording. So what we need to do is finish that process, and most of the process, most of the writing had been complete. So it's mostly about recording. There were things that had been demoed by me, by Matt, by Chris, by Ben. But, again, demo. They're very rough. They're sketches. You start with a little pencil sketch, and you fill it in with whatever, chalks or oils or pastels. And that's what we have to do, is finish the sketches. And we're in that process. It is atypical in the way we approach it. There isn't a record label budgeting time and money, with a particular schedule. With everybody else's obligations, professionally or with family or whatever, we have to find the time and coordinate amongst ourselves to address the work. And it's being addressed."

He added: "It's very, very important to all of us. It's important for the legacy of SOUNDGARDEN. It's important for the legacy of Chris Cornell. It is doing right by our collective work. It is doing right by our partner and friend."

Cornell is credited as a writer on all eight songs which are expected to appear on SOUNDGARDEN's upcoming album, receiving sole credit on two, "Cancer" and "Stone Age Mind". He wrote "Road Less Traveled", "Orphans" and "At Ophians Door" with Cameron; "Ahead Of The Dog" with Thayil; and "Merrmas" with Shepherd.

in November 2025, SOUNDGARDEN joined the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame class of 2025 in the Performer category. The Seattle grunge legends were first nominated for the Rock Hall in 2020, and were on the ballot again in 2023 before finally being chosen for induction last year.

Thayil, Cameron, Cornell and Shepherd were included in the induction, as was original bassist Hiro Yamamoto, who was with SOUNDGARDEN from 1984 to 1989 and played on the band's first two EPs and first two albums.

SOUNDGARDEN's three surviving members performed during the event, alongside guest vocalists Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile in place of Cornell. The set also featured appearances by PEARL JAM's Mike McCready and ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell.