Kevin Mazur/Getty ImagesPearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has released a new solo EP, titled American Death Squad.
The five-track collection is available now for digital download. You can also watch the video for the song “The Divine Perfume,” which stars a particularly creepy ventriloquist dummy playing a piano, streaming now on YouTube.
As Ament explains, he started working on American Death Squad after Pearl Jam postponed their spring North American tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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,” Ament says. “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 s***e.”
“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,” he continues. “These were some of the first songs out of the gate. Raw and succinct.”
Pearl Jam, meanwhile, released their new album, Gigaton, in March.
By Josh Johnson
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