Thayil mentioned in several interviews it was likely the band would start working on material for a new album in 2015, and in August 2015, Cornell stated they were doing so. On January 19, 2016, The Pulse Of Radio announced that Soundgarden had returned to the studio to continue working on their new album. On July 14, 2016, bassist Ben Shepherd and Cameron stated that the band had written "six solid tunes" for the new album, with more writing to be done in August.