A cohort of Seattle’s pre-2000 grunge icons – including Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and Pearl Jam/Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron – have formed a new supergroup called 3rd Secret, and, without having announced it beforehand, dropped their debut album Monday (April 11).
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A self-titled affair, the 11-track effort sports a broad tonal palette – it leans heavily on classic grunge and alt-rock flavours, but adds diversity with hints of laidback folk and indie-rock, swampy blues and stomping hard-rock.
Tracks like “Dead Sea” and “Winter Solstice” make impressive use of twangy, melancholy acoustics, while the use of an accordion on “Right Stuff” adds a unique sense of theatricality. “Diamond In The Cold”, on the other hand, is a crunchy, mosh-primed rock anthem, with songs like “I Choose Me” and “Lies Fade Away” embracing the epochal ‘90s grunge sound that 3rd Secret’s members built their legacies on.
Have a listen to the full album below:
Alongside Novoselic, Thayil and Cameron, 3rd Secret is rounded out by guitarist Jon ‘Bubba’ Dupree (best known for his work in ‘80s hardcore outfit Void, as well as the alt-metal supergroup Hater, which also featured Cameron) and singers Jillian Raye (who Novoselic also plays with as part of Giants In The Trees) and Jennifer Johnson.
Recording for the album was split between three sessions, all of which featured involvement from longtime Nirvana and Soundgarden collaborator Jack Endino. In addition to mixing the full release and engineering three tracks, Endino aided Nate Yaccino in recording five of the tracks, and Erik Friend in recording the other three.
Friend also performed synth on “Dead Sea” and “Rhythm Of The Ride”, while Martin Link filled in for Cameron on the tracks “Live Without You” and “Right Stuff”.
The album was released independently, and at the time of writing, is only available to buy digitally on Amazon and stream through Spotify and YouTube. It’ll be available to stream on Apple Music soon, 3rd Secret confirmed on their website, though they’re yet to share any details of a potential release on physical formats.
Novoselic first teased the existence of 3rd Secret back in February, sharing in a since-deleted tweet that he was “really busy trying to finish a record” and “in the middle of some hangups”. At the time, it was slated for release in mid-March.