Pearl Jam took a deep look at the world around us on their latest album, Gigaton. While they warned of a planet on the brink of cataclysm, they also presented messages of hope and potential triumph. Of course, in 2020, they’re not the only ones calling for change; for the video for the record’s latest single, “Retrograde”, they called on one of this generation’s most prominent — and youngest — environmentalist voices, Greta Thunberg.
The animated clip finds a man driving to a strip mall occupied by a number of stores named after Pearl Jam albums. At the end of the row sits a psychic’s shop, where our protagonist goes to get a glimpse of not just his future, but all of ours. It turns out Thunberg is the prognosticator, and inside her crystal ball swirl images of the London Bridge and Eiffel Tower being swallowed by tidal waves, kangaroos bouncing past raging wildfires, and crumbling polar icecaps. She also turns over some tarot cards featuring the members of PJ.
At the end of the clip, the lyrics, “It’s gonna take much more than ordinary love to lift this up” light up on a billboard above the stores. Good thing we have fighters like Thunberg on our side.
Watch the “Retrograde” video below.
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Pearl Jam previously released visuals for the Gigaton tracks “Superblood Wolfmoon” and “Dance of the Clairvoyants”, with the latter marking their first music video in seven years. Last month, the band also streamed the “Gigaton Visual Experience”, an immersive audiovisual release that was shared for free on Apple TV. If you missed the debut, it’s still available for purchase or rental via Apple.
