SOUNDGARDEN's Chris Cornell spoke to The Pulse Of Radio last week about the status of the band's next studio album. "[I'm] not really sure," he said. "I mean, I think we're kind of halfway through. We haven't really recorded anything, so we're just sort of working on ideas. I think we have about half the songs we need for an album. But you never know. We tend to make pretty long albums. At some point when we feel like we're done, five more songs show up at the doorstep."

Guitarist Kim Thayil was also asked about the new SOUNDGARDEN album by Philadelphia radio station WMMR, to which he replied: "There's some things that have been documented in rehearsal, there's some things that are at the demo stage, there are some that are still in the developmental stage, ideas that we jammed on that we're kind of working out arrangements for. Every different stage within the process of songwriting is being addressed at this point."

Cornell told The Pulse Of Radio that the band should get into the studio "sometime" this year.

Work on SOUNDGARDEN's seventh studio effort started in 2015, but the band took breaks while Cornell toured his "Higher Truth" solo set and drummer Matt Cameron hit the road with PEARL JAM.

SOUNDGARDEN reunited in 2010 after a 13-year hiatus, first touring and then writing and recording "King Animal", its first new studio album in 16 years.

The band will kick off a North American tour on May 3 in Atlanta, winding down on May 27 at the Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma.

Support on selected dates will come from THE PRETTY RECKLESS and THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN. This will be SOUNDGARDEN's first trek since a summer 2014 co-headlining run with NINE INCH NAILS.