Pearl Jam’s 11th studio album, Gigaton, is due at the end of next month and the lead single is called ‘Superblood Wolfmoon’ with the sleeve artwork featuring a red lunar eclipse.

As part of the promotion, the band worked with creative agency Powster to create a Super Blood Wolf Moon augmented reality effect for smartphones (that works on both Android and iOS devices).

Users can scan a QR code that will lead them to the moon.pearljam.com mobile site. Once there, they will have to give it permission to access their device’s sensors relating to motion and orientation as well as access to their camera. They then have to move it around to locate the moon in the sky. Their camera will track the real moon, then superimpose a rotating red lunar eclipse on top of it while the words “super”, “blood”, “wolf” and “moon” appear and a clip of the single plays in the background.

(Cheat: it doesn’t have to line up with the actual moon when it’s in the sky and you can just point your camera at a photo of the moon and it will work fine.)

There is also a link to pre-order the album or save it, with links to assorted digital services and real-world retailers.

“Adapting to new technologies and integrating platforms unleashes the full potential of music, as well as changes the way fans experience new sounds, and we are excited to be teaming up with Pearl Jam to provide their fans with this exclusive look at their style and artistic direction,” said Powster CEO Ste Thompson in a statement.

It is a really simple and straightforward use of AR to tease a single before its full release (the clip was available within the app for five days before it got a full release). The temptation with AR is to try and do something that really pushes the envelope, but that can sometimes end up being overly complicated and fussy so it is nice to see the “less is more” strategy here.