Yesterday was a weird day for Pearl Jam fanatics. The Seattle band premiered some brand new songs on Conan O’Brien’s inaugural show as host of NBC’s storied Tonight Show, but even bigger news comes via an exclusive from Billboard.
Already longtime friends with director Cameron Crowe (Singles, dudes!), the fivesome reportedly shot some footage of new songs last week at Seattle’s Showbox for a Target commercial, a corporate happening that more staunch Jamily members might scoff at given the band’s well-document ethos. But the commercial is only one small part of Pearl Jam’s release plans (the chain will be the “big box” retailer) for their eighth full-length, an album that will be their first outside of major label contract obligations. Rumors regarding that release have flown pretty wildly in the past few weeks, the title Backspacer having surfaced in addition to an early Fall release. IT’S ALL HAPPENING.
