Earthling

Earthling is the third solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Eddie Vedder, of Pearl Jam fame, coming a whopping eleven years after his previous solo effort, Ukulele Songs, and two years after his band’s latest record at the time, Gigaton.

The album is entirely produced by Andrew Watt, who has also been a part of the super-formation (branded as “The Earthlings”) that helped Vedder record the album and backed him during the promotional tour: the rest of the line-up includes fellow singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, Jane’s Addiction’s bassist Chris Chaney, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ drummer Chad Smith and their former guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer.

Earthling was first announced by Vedder in September 2021, together with the release of the lead single “Long Way;” the album’s official release date (February 11, 2022) was unveiled in November, alongside the second single “The Haves;” finally, in January 2022, the release of the third and final single “Brother the Cloud” accompanied the revelation of the LP’s official track-list.

The album’s release was followed by an Amazon Live special, available on the platform for 48 hours (and on Vedder’s YouTube channel from then on) and directed by Thom Zimny, which consists in a conversation between the singer-songwriter and Bruce Springsteen about how the LP’s creative and recording process.