Kim Thayil reveals what we can expect from Soundgarden’s last album

Kim Thayil, the guitarist for Soundgarden, recently spoke with KOMO News, as per theprp. In addition to talking about his recently published memoir, Thayil also discussed the band’s highly anticipated last studio album and his upcoming return to the stage for an NFL halftime show this coming week. Regarding the halftime performance, the band is slated to perform in the Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots game on September 9 at Lumen Field in the band’s hometown of Seattle, Washington. The band will be led by The Pretty Reckless singer Taylor Momsen, with Pearl Jam guitarist/vocalist Mike McCready also expected to participate. During that performance, the group will perform a mashup of some of their classics.

Regarding the forthcoming new Soundgarden album, Thayil went on to talk about how difficult it was to work on it after Cornell passed away. Before he committed suicide in 2017, Cornell and the band were collaborating on new songs for that album. But it has taken a while to get here since Cornell’s estate and the band’s camp were embroiled in a legal battle over the tapes that were left behind. The ensuing legal actions, which have now been settled, verified the existence of several songs featuring Cornell.

• Road Less Traveled
• Orphans
• At Ophians Door
• Cancer
• Ahead Of The Dog
• Mermas
• Stone Age Mind

It was very different from other other records. You don’t start at one point with song ideas and demos and kind of record the drums and build it. We kind of worked in a different direction. We had to build our performances… the songs were were by and large done. But the recordings and the performances weren’t, except for what we had with the vocals and some drums. So then we had to just kind of… it was very forensic in nature. We kind of had to tear it all apart and kind of piece it back together.

So, and again, spending a lot of time in the studio listening to the material, is both… it’s a great pleasure… It presented a lot of enthusiasm, you know, and opportunity for us, but it’s also a little bit difficult, you know? You’re constantly balancing the responsibility and duty towards the material and towards a beloved friend’s work, and our work together. So it was very unusual. It is a strange thing to do. And I know that we’re not the only people have had to explore the work and the relationships in a similar situation.

What’s his favorite track?

That’s always changing. I think we’ve been working on this on and off for a few years, and I think every song has been my favorite at some point.

What can we expect from it?

I think all the material is like much of our material… There are quirky elements. It’s very introspective, perhaps more introspective than — I mean all of our work has been somewhat that way — but this is a little bit more so. And if you can imagine a lullaby paired with psychedelia, that’s kind of what’s going on there.

And when can we expect it?

No, we don’t [have a potential release date]. We’re dealing with the record label and trying to work out contractual understandings. You have to think about the promotion, the production, and so we have to work all that out and coordinate it with ourselves, management, the record label, and all those processes are are in motion. So, and again, it’s very different. I mean, it’s been so many years. A lot of these contractual obligations expired. So, uh we have to kind of work them out again.