Matt Cameron Reflects on Tracking Soundgarden’s Final Album With Chris Cornell: “It’s A Massive Emotional Roller Coaster”

As Soundgarden prepares for their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction on November 8th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, CA—streaming live on Disney+—drummer/vocalist Matt Cameron opened up about the band’s work on their long-awaited final album with late frontman Chris Cornell.

The surviving members are building the record around Cornell’s pre-2017 recordings and song ideas, a process Cameron describes as:

“It’s a massive emotional roller coaster. A lot of highs, a lot of lows. The highs are based on the fact that the music is seeing its light of day, it’s coming to life. Some of it feels like it could have been a new chapter in songwriting for the group, so that’s super bittersweet. But it’s been challenging to work on some of this music, soloing up Chris’ vocals and hearing that beautiful voice come through the speakers all on its own.”

Guitarist Kim Thayil added context on the long delay, reflecting on how time has shaped the emotional weight of the project:

“The delay in the process was damaging in some ways to the emotive nature of the experience. Certainly, it’s great that we’re doing it now. I’m wondering — because you can’t help but wonder — how that emotive and creative journey might have been undertaken six, seven, eight years ago. You will never know that, and there’s something unfortunate (and) damaging about that. But there’s something also beneficial about that because we’re doing it now, and it’s beautiful. It’s a way to post tribute to our beloved brother. All of it just has that much more weight emotionally and creatively, and we don’t take that lightly.”

On the possibility of performing any new songs live, Cameron remained measured but hopeful:

“We haven’t really gotten there yet. We’re just trying to get the music together. But I think there might be some situations where it would be really cool to do that. It’s just a matter of getting the right people together, and we’ve got some amazing people that we’ve been working with, some singers that have expressed interest. So, we’re really, really excited about what that could potentially look like.”

With legal hurdles behind them and the final tracking underway, fans are now eagerly awaiting the culmination of Soundgarden’s storied career and a fitting tribute to Cornell’s legacy.

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