The band's first recording sessions for Dark Matter took place in February 2021 at Watt's home studio, which yielded the first two tracks, "Scared of Fear" and "React, Respond".

The majority of Dark Matter was recorded over three weeks in 2023[3] at Shangri-La in Malibu, California and, according to a press release, "channels the shared spirit of a group of lifelong creative confidants and brothers in one room playing as if their very lives depended on it".

[4] On November 29, 2023, drummer Matt Cameron revealed that they finished a record with assistance from Andrew Watt and that it was "mastered, mixed, ready to go" at the time.

[6] Later that month, on January 31, the band and Watt debuted Dark Matter in front of a group of fans at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California, without revealing lyrics or song titles.

Ultimate Classic Rock said "With cutting lyrics and slicing riffs, Eddie Vedder and the band delivered their most satisfying album since the '90s.

Shonfeld described "Waiting for Stevie" (which Vedder said in a Howard Stern interview had originated when he and Watt were idly waiting for Stevie Wonder to show up and record a harmonica part for Vedder's solo album Earthling) as a "meaty, anthemic rocker of the kind the band has largely shied away from this side of Y2K" that had "already become a favorite in the PJ fan community".