SOUNDGARDEN singer Chris Cornell spoke with the Wall Street Journal recently about the band's current tour and upcoming studio album. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Wall Street Journal: Was it hard to take the step from playing old songs to actually writing new material?

Cornell: "It’s like wearing two very different hats. Rehearsing for a show after 12 years off, there’s less tension surrounding that. You know it’s do-able. The songs are on a list somewhere. Writing a new album, that’s when the individual relationships come into play. In that regard we’ve always been a really great band. Everybody supports everyone’s ideas. But there are still question marks in writing new music. What’s it mean? Who are we now? Hopefully the answers are in the songs."

Wall Street Journal: Can you give me an example of what the new music sounds like?

Cornell: "I’m really happy with it. I understand the feeling of the album. It’s very true to form for Soundgarden yet you can’t compare it to anything else."

Wall Street Journal: How does writing, playing heavy, aggressive music in your forties compare to doing it in your teens and twenties?

Cornell: "I don’t feel like the source has changed. In some ways as people get older they might have convictions that change but ultimately they may be more open-minded about everything. That’s part of being an adult and getting older. I don’t think music necessarily is affected by that. For me it’s important that the lyrics are borne of the feeling of the music. I don’t get in there and create a character. It’s more of a voice that I hear living inside the music."

Read the entire interview here.