Soundgarden reunion album

Soundgarden will release King Animal, the band’s first new studio album in over 15 years through Seven Four Entertainment/Republic Records, on Nov. 13. The album’s first single, “Been Away Too Long” will be available via digital retailers on Sept. 27. The band co-produced their sixth studio effort with longtime associate Adam Kasper and recorded at Studio X in their Seattle hometown.

In 2010, Chris Cornell, Matt Cameron, Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd reconnected after an extended absence. In the time since Soundgarden reunited, they released a retrospective, (Telephantasm), which was certified platinum, their first live album (Live on I-5), penned the end title song, “Live to Rise,” for the feature film The Avengers - which went to No.1 on Modern and Active Rock radio - and headlined sold-out shows and festivals around the world. Now, comes the band’s first collection of new songs since the '90s.

Album opener “Been Away Too Long” finds Soundgarden back with a double-edged blast of homecoming celebration and urban angst. King Animal can be explosive, as in “Blood On The Valley Floor,” nightmarish (“Worse Dreams”) or wistful (“Halfway There”), leading us through changing sonic landscapes that can embrace both the jazz inflections of “Black Saturday” and the feral rocker “Attrition,” with compelling lyrics by bassist Ben Shepherd. The subject matter is broad - Kim Thayil’s lyrics for “Non-State Actor” are a sharp and cynical take on the powers behind political thrones, while Cornell’s bruised and introspective “Bones of Birds” explores the terrors and vulnerabilities of parenthood.

Track listing: 

Been Away Too Long
Non-State Actor
By Crooked Steps
A Thousand Days Before
Blood On The Valley Floor
Bones of Birds
Taree
Attrition
Black Saturday
Halfway There
Worse Dreams
Eyelid’s Mouth
Rowing