Photo Courtesy of Eddie Vedder

Take one warbling baritone and add the melodic plucking of the Aloha State’s favorite instrument and what do you get? As one may (easily) guess, Eddie Vedder’s Ukulele Songs, released May 31, is a compilation of 16 tracks including Pearl Jam covers, unreleased songs from the past decade and a select few uke essentials. Throughout this collection, Vedder examines love, life, and loss all through the petite lens of the ukulele and does so with genuine charm.

For those of you familiar with Pearl Jam’s big and mighty alt-rock sound, Eddie Vedder’s monogamous relationship with such an itsy-bitsy instrument may come as a surprise but, as has been said, the best surprises come in small packages and the surfer-singer-songwriter wields this little baby with the finesse and ease that makes this album perfect for summer days, camp-fire nights and lingering post-memorial day tans.

Photo: Getty Images

For those of you turned off by Vedder’s softer sound, worry not. Though Eddie is employing a smaller weapon, he has not quit riding the big waves but is simply holding still enough to enjoy the sounds of crashing waves and the oscillation of his hammock, a nice break for the part time Pearl Jam frontman, part time solo artist and full time quietly wounded king of manly heartbreak. Perhaps one of the best aspects of this collection is the stark contrast between the lightness of the ukulele and the gravelly texture of Eddie’s Voice. Eddie’s celebrated croon grounds the ethereal sound of the ukulele so that the whole thing doesn’t fly away in the beach breeze. It is not just the mai-tai flavored summer sound oozing from these tracks that make the timing of this release ideal, but in a year that could be called Pearl Jam Palooza (tour, documentary, reissue and festival) this album seems like the perfect party favor a decade’s worth of faithful fans Though the title clearly warns listeners, Ukulele Songs does not present audiences with much musical diversity, and this pigeonholed niche is both freeing and isolating for Eddie. 35 minutes alone with Eddie and his feelings might be overkill for some, but there is no denying that the seamless and flowing progression of the featured tracks makes this album incredibly listenable.