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Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard Promises New Album Gigaton Has “Straight Ahead Rock Songs”

Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam
NEW YORK - OCTOBER 17: Guitarist Stone Gossard of Brad and Pearl Jam during his performance at the HDSA 40th Anniversary concert celebrating Woody and Marjorie Guthrie at Webster Hall on October 17, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Were you confused by Pearl Jam‘s synth-y “Dance of the Clairvoyants“? Did the first single from Gigaton make you worry that the album might not rock enough? (Quite a few of you had concerns about the new sound, based on the reactions we received.) Well, relax. Stone Gossard says Pearl Jam’s upcoming album will have plenty of the type of rock ‘n’ roll the band’s fans are accustomed to hearing.

“I think that ‘Dance of the Clairvoyants,’ if you’ve heard that track, that’s sort of the outer edge of something that we haven’t tried before, a new way of configuring our sort of collaborative talents,” Gossard explained in an interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music’s Beats 1 of the song, which dropped January 22. “It’s going to be the variety that our fans will be excited about.”

RELATED: Hear “Dance of the Clairvoyants”

“There’s definitely some really straight ahead rock songs,” the guitarist assured. “There’s some very spare and very simple ballads. It’s got it all, I think. … [Eddie Vedder] did such a great job of bringing everybody’s personalities out. It was probably different than any of us would’ve made individually, but it really captures, I think, the spirit of the band.”

He also discussed the time it took to do Gigaton, which is coming nearly seven years after 2013’s Lightning Bolt.

“I think it’s better than us putting a record out every year,” opined Gossard. “We’re a slow moving creature and I think that’s OK. I think the record will sort of be more enjoyable and differentiate itself more by taking a little bit more time. We’re not in a rush.”

RELATED: Every Pearl Jam Album, Ranked

“We had a good time making this record,” he added, noting that Vedder’s lyrics on the album are “stunning.” “It was both up and down, but in the end when we listened to it, we really achieved something.”

Pearl Jam hits the road March 18, and Gigaton drops on March 27.