Soundgarden fans, rejoice! Chris Cornell recently told Billboard.com that the new Soundgarden album is “mostly done.” He went on to say that, “We just need to finish a couple of songs and mix it, so that will be happening probably over the holidays.”

Fans that were hoping for a return to the Soundgarden sound circa 1991 may be in for a bit of a surprise. According to Cornell, the sound is “certainly not nostalgic.” He called it a forward sound further describing it as, “It sounds to me exactly like it should sound — like we took a break and we got together and we’re making an album.”

He said the band hasn’t really “taken any dramatic new approaches to writing or recording”, and that it’s been very “refreshing.” He summed it all up saying, “It feels to me like the next logical step in Soundgarden, creatively.”

As for a release date, spring of 2012 is still the target, but if you need a Cornell fix before then, his new ‘Songbook’ album comes out on Nov. 21. The release features 15 songs that he recorded during his spring tour of the same name, as well as a new studio version of ‘The Keeper,’ the song featured in the film ‘Machine Gun Preacher.’ It also includes a few Soundgarden tunes that he performs during his set, including ‘Fell On Black Days’ and ‘Black Hole Sun.’

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