Pearl Jam fans should not be holding their collective breath waiting for the band's next album -- at least not according to bassist Jeff Ament.

Ament tells Guerrilla Candy that the group is indeed working on a new album -- its first since "Backspacer" in 2009 -- but it's not holding to any particular timeline:

"We still don't know exactly when we will finish it, so it's hard to talk about it. It really could be anything at this point. Even though we have seven or eight songs recorded, it's still sort of a blank slate and that's exciting."

On a broader scale, Ament added that, "There really are no plans right now" for Pearl Jam in the coming year. "We have a few shows in South America on the calendar and that's about it. I think that's by design. I think the idea is that everybody takes the holidays off and then at some point somebody will pick up the phone, maybe late January or early February, and that will kind of start the process over again."

The South American dates Ament references have not yet been announced.

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