Eddie Vedder has revealed the first single off his upcoming solo album “Earthling.”
The song, “Long Way,” was produced by Andrew Watt. Watt also produced the album.
“Long Way” is the latest music to come from Vedder, who recently contributed eight songs to the soundtrack to Sean Penn’s film “Flag Day.” Those songs were co-written with Glen Hansard. Two of the “Flag Day” songs are sung by Vedder’s daughter Olivia. He also recently contributed to a cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” along with Bruce Springsteen for Tom Morello’s upcoming album and worked with Elton John for a track on John’s upcoming “The Lockdown Sessions” record.
The album is Watt’s first time working with Vedder. He previously produced Ozzy Osbourne’s 2020 album “Ordinary Man.” He also won the Producer of the Year award in the non-classical category at this year’s Grammys coming out ahead of nominees Jack Antonoff, Dan Auerbach and Flying Lotus.
“Earthling” will be Vedder’s third solo album. A release date for the album has not been announced, but “Long Way” is available for preorder as a 7″ single that includes the soon-to-be-released track “The Haves” as the b-side.
There is no word on a tour to support “Earthling,” however, Vedder is headlining a night of the Ohana Festival Sept. 25 and the set will likely contain songs off the upcoming record. He will also be playing five dates with Pearl Jam this fall.
As for Pearl Jam, last year the band released its 11th studio album “Gigaton,” which was well-received by critics. The band was unable to tour due to the pandemic and is expected to announce replacement dates for its canceled 2020 US tours next year.
A transcript of the lyrics for “Long Way” is below. You can watch the lyric video for the track here.
"Long Way" by Eddie Vedder His eyes appear vacant He’d taken more than his share Trying hard not to awaken The voice of regret in his ear He can’t escape the timeline So much worse than he had feared Lived every moment Wishing the past would disappear He took the long way On the freeway He took the long way On the freeway She was his all and everything But her strength it needed space Her love was but a haunting She left but never went away She took the long way On the freeway She took the long way On the freeway She took the long way On the freeway She took the long way On the freeway She took the long way On the freeway She took the long way On the freeway She took the long way On the freeway She took the long way On the freeway She took the long long way Well, It couldn’t be had What he wanted to hold He dared to let go He should of known She took the long way On the freeway She took the long way On the freeway
