Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic and Soundgarden alumni Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron form 3rd Secret, release surprise album

Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic has teamed up with former Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and drummer Matt Cameron (also of Pearl Jam) for a new project titled 3rd Secret. The Seattle grunge pioneers are joined by vocalists Jennifer Johnson and Jillian Raye, and Bubba Dupree playing guitar, with Erik Friend on synthesizers.

The band wasted little time with introductions and building anticipation of what they might sound like; 3rd Secret’s self-titled debut album is available now via streaming platforms, with the first single from the record, I Choose Me, shared on YouTube on Sunday.

I Choose Me has Thayil’s fingerprints all over it, settling down into an easy groove arranged around a bluesy, fuzz riff that sounds like a bluesier descendent of Black Sabbath’s Electric Funeral. The track sees Dupree – once of DC hardcore champs Void – take the first guitar solo, with Thayil unpacking his wah pedal for the second.

The album was mixed by Jack Endino, who also takes the lion’s share of recording credits. Endino famously lit the blue touch paper on the whole grunge movement, recording Nirvana’s Bleach and Soundgarden’s Screaming Life EP, working with the likes of Mudhoney, Tad and Green River as the nascent Seattle scene took shape. 

More recently, Endino has worked with Novoselic, Raye and Friend when mixing Giants In The Trees' eponymous 2018 album.

You can check out 3rd Secret on Spotify right now, and the album will be coming soon to Apple Music. The 3rd Secret website says it has been uploaded and they’re just waiting for it to go live.