Soundgarden and the estate of deceased vocalist Chris Cornell seemed to have reached an agreement back in April that would let them release their final material with Cornell on vocals.
At the time, Soundgarden and Chris Cornell's widow Vicky Cornell issued a joint statement saying that the two parties "reached an amicable out of court resolution. The reconciliation marks a new partnership between the two parties, which will allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on."
Despite the positivity of the joint statement from April, it seems there's still issues behind the scenes. According to drummer Matt Cameron in an interview with The Vinyl Guide podcast, the dispute is still ongoing and fans shouldn't expect those final Soundgarden songs in 2024.
"We're still in the middle of a dispute with the estate," said Cameron. "Everything is on hold right now. As of right now, it doesn’t look like it's going to happen next year. Hopefully soon. I’m not giving up hope."
Chris Cornell died by suicide on May 18, 2017. His final effort with Soundgarden was the King Animal album in 2012, though new material was in the works between King Animal and Cornell's death.
According to bassist Ben Shepherd and Cameron in a 2016 interview, Soundgarden was deep into the writing process for a new album and were plotting a third writing session for that August. "I think we've got six solid tunes right now, we're gonna get together in August for about a week, do more writing, and hopefully got five or six more going at that point. We're off to a very good start," said Cameron at the time.
