Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has written and recorded a surprise solo EP while in quarantine. Titled American Death Squad, the set features five songs, including the just-released “The Divine Perfume.” Half of the EP was performed on guitar, while the other was done on piano.
Ament said about the project, “In the days following the postponement of our tour, I found it necessary to find an outlet for the energy we had created going into the tour. Pivot was the word of March. So, every morning, I retreated to the studio with the goal of writing a song every day, no matter how shite.”
Ament added, “Days of isolating and watching the news of the destruction courtesy the virus (and the ineptitude of our leadership or as named here, the American Death Squad) made for vivid dreams and a helplessness. These were some of the first songs out of the gate.”
American Death Squad is available as a digital EP, a stream and a seven-inch vinyl EP, with the latter available for pre-order.
Pearl Jam played live for the first time in two years last Wednesday (June 24th) as part of “All In WA: A Concert For COVID-19 Relief”, a online musical benefit. The band issued its 11th album, Gigaton, in March and was about to begin a world tour behind the LP when those plans were shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.