The Grammy award-winning group’s second single off their eagerly awaited album Dark Matter, which drops on April 19, “Running,” debuted on streaming services this Friday and demonstrates their ability to create a rock song fit for the modern era.

With the powerful guitar playing of Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, Eddie Vedder’s trademark vocals, and powerful backing from Matt Cameron and Jeff Ament, Pearl Jam’s “Running” hits well-trod territory in a way that will appeal to both new and seasoned fans of hard rock.

Vedder’s poetic tone is complemented by the fast-paced music of the song. Additionally, the song successfully gets listeners “Running” with the group, who, despite their popularity for more than thirty years, don’t seem to be slowing down.

In the new song, Vedder expresses that he and the band will keep “running till the second coming,” regardless of whether they are “lost in the tunnel,” “getting funneled,” or feeling like “the sewage in the plumbing.”

“Running” follows “Dark Matter,” the album’s lead single, which debuted on February 13 and swiftly soared to the top of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay Chart, becoming the band’s first number-one single there since 1998. No. 1 on the Billboard Rock & Alternative Airplay Chart was also attained by the song.

Produced by Andrew Watt, the upcoming album is Pearl Jam’s first full-length release since Gigaton in 2020, which was later reissued in 2022 as a live tour album. In order to bring the record to reality, the band and Watt reportedly spent 2023 working at Rick Rubin’s renowned Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California.

At a West Hollywood private listening event for Dark Matter in February, Vedder, 59, declared, “No hyperbole, I think this is our best work.”

On April 16, Pearl Jam will hold a “exclusive cinematic engagement” to commemorate the release of Dark Matter. As to the announcement, their new album will be brought to life in over 225 theaters across the United States and over 300 places worldwide, covering 30 nations, during this unique, one-night-only event.

With the exclusive release of a special edition of the album on April 20, Record Store Day, indie record stores are also receiving love in the Dark Matter rollout.

Finally, the band will be taking Dark Matter on a national and worldwide tour. For the first time, Pearl Jam has simultaneously announced a new album and tour, and this is also the first time that all of the tour dates have been made available from the outset.

The tour, which takes place in 25 locations in nine nations, starts on May 4 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and ends on November 23 in Sydney, Australia.