It’s only evolution

One of the constants of the last 20 years, in my life at least, has been the presence of Pearl Jam as a musical companion. Their ongoing single-minded writing of their own history, often against the constraints and constructs of the music industry, has been an inspiration and now another chapter appears in the shape of their self-released (in the US at least) new record, Backspacer.

It really does not hang about, clocking in at 36 minutes plus change, and the great thing about it is that it doesn’t need to be any longer. Something that has irked for years, particularly as the single declined as a format, was the way that a lot of acts (so many names…) loaded their records with as much filler as great tracks. B-sides with nowhere to go clogged the arteries of otherwise perfectly healthy albums and brought them to their knees with the unnecessary flab they added.

It’s genuinely a thrill to listen to a record that is as long as it needs to be to make its statement, no more, and no less. How often can it really be said these days that a record left you wanting more?

Long-time fans will identify the similarities with other classic albums, especially No Code. That was my reference point for this record on first listen, it’s diversity, strength and downright classic song-writing and musicianship are front and centre here, but with a brighter shade than on previous records.

The Avacado album was weighted down with the hangover of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq, as was Riot Act, and this record, recorded in the early hopeful glow of Obama, brings Eddie and the boys out of the shadows, rocking into the light with a tangible joy that has been pretty much under wraps since No Code.

It’s as though the sentiment of Gone, from the last album, with its Springsteenesque small-town great escape narrative, has come to pass – this band have gotten out of the shackles they were bound by, and this is the sound of what that freedom has released.

Backspacer is a complete record. It knows where it’s going, where it’s been, and what it feels. Take it out beyond the lights at the edge of town, let me know where you get to. I’m sure it will be a good place.

Here’s Cameron Crowe’s mesmerising video for the lead track, The Fixer…