SOUNDGARDEN Working On 'Very Diverse' New Album

Reunited grunge legends SOUNDGARDEN entered singer Chris Cornell's studio in Los Angeles earlier in the month to begin recording their first album in 15 years. Cornell tells Billboard.com in a new interview, "We're pretty far into our record now. I don't really know how to describe it musically, because typically with SOUNDGARDEN... every time we write a song we always take it for what it is and try to make it the most it can be. It's very diverse, I can tell you that."

Cornell says that that unlike the old days when the band was on a constant schedule of recording and touring, they're working in a much more relaxed way now.

"We went into this with the idea that we wouldn't worry about scheduling or timing," Cornell explains to Billboard.com. "We would worry about making a great record; that's kind of where we're at. It's been a pretty fast pace, considering everything. We've really gotten very far very quickly, and it's really exciting. But we're not putting any pressure on ourselves or around the music and just want it to organically be finished without being concerned that, 'Oh, we have to master this on this specific date.' We're not in a situation where we have to rush, and this is one time we're lucky enough that we can afford to...let the album decide when it's done."

Adam Kaspar, who co-produced SOUNDGARDEN's last record, 1996's "Down On The Upside", is working with the group on the new effort as well.

SOUNDGARDEN reunited in January 2010 but has only played a handful of gigs — including a headlining set at last August's Lollapalooza festival in Chicago — and issued a compilation titled "Telephantasm" last fall.

The band's first live album, called "Live On I5", came out on March 22 and was recorded on one of their final tours.

Cornell, who's going out on a solo acoustic tour this spring, told Spin that SOUNDGARDEN will play more live shows this year.