Melissa Auf der Maur has dug into her archive and put together her first new album in 16 years.
Dubbed ‘Bass Womb Room: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings’, the music on the record is previously-unreleased living room demos that she recorded back in the 1990s. They were made as she put a handycam on her amp during her time in Hole, as well as her time as a touring member of The Smashing Pumpkins.
Set for release digitally and on cassette on September 4, the album also features eight new interludes, and is all put together to coincide with a new photography exhibition she has coming.
“I wrote these songs in the context of rising pressure from the major label-driven music industry on myself and my peers to make glossy hit songs to dominate radio airwaves,”Auf der Maur said.
“These songs are the sound of my internal experimentation and a way of keeping the Montreal art girl alive inside. These sounds are the quiet and private side of the girl who joined the big American major label rock band.”
Check out the tracklist and newly released teaser of ‘Skip A Beat’ below.
The ‘Bass Womb Room: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Active Heart’
2. ‘… And the Next Day’
3. ‘Courtney Chimes In’
4. ‘Desire Is Critical’
5. ‘In the Reflection’
6. ‘Water Wars’
7. ‘Flesh Flush’
8. ‘Is She His’
9. ‘Billy Seoul Crowd’
10. ‘Love Is the Drug’
11. ‘Sparkle Bass’
12. ‘Fancy Piece [ft. the Hunger World]’
13. ‘River’s Dream’
14. ‘Sea of Tranquility’
15. ‘Skip a Beat’
The aforementioned photo exhibition, ‘Bass Womb Room’, opens on September 2 at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto.
As well as the album, the display will also be accompanied by the release of a 240-page photobook of the same name. It is set for release on September 8 via DelMonico Books/D.A.P. and the AGO.
Boasting a selection of 200 photos, the forthcoming book is described as “a photographic love letter to the last analogue decade”. Fans can expect an “intimate” look at the alt-rock scene and the independent spirit of the ’90s.
The project includes candid shots of Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain‘s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, as well as hangouts with Pavement, Sonic Youth and Beck, and a limousine ride with Drew Barrymore. There’s also a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’ video.
Visit here to pre-order the album, here for tickets to the exhibition, and here for more information about the book.
Melissa Auf der Maur’s last solo album was ‘Out Of Our Minds’ which arrived in 2010, and earlier this year she dropped a new book Even The Good Girls Will Cry: A ‘90s Rock Memoir.
The bassist spoke to NME in March for our ‘Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?!’ quiz series, where she was asked about the possibility of Hole getting back together to play live again.
“I have no idea,” Auf der Maur replied. “If there’s one thing I know about Courtney and Hole, it’s that it’s as mysterious as romantic love. You can’t force, organise, or plan these things.
“What I do know is I’ve always said no for many years, and it wasn’t until the Evil Empire in the US that I began to contemplate where Hole, and Courtney’s fearless feminism, and our generation, could maybe add to this dire dialogue in the US.”
She added: “Some of my interest in returning to Hole in any shape or form is because the world needs that kind of power, rebellion, and intelligence.”
Auf der Maur had previously sparked fresh speculation of another Hole comeback with a mysterious video online. However, Love subsequently clarified the meaning behind the teaser – confirming that “no Hole reunion” was on the horizon.
