Melissa Auf der Maur has announced her new album, BASS WOMB ROOM: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings, containing previously unheard demos alongside “interludes” created for her upcoming My ’90s Rock Photographs book exhibition. Marking her first new music in over 15 years, it’s out September 4th via Envision Records. Check out a preview of the grinding new song “Skip a Beat” below.
Album Details
BASS WOMB ROOM is highlighted by seven previously unreleased demos written and recorded by Auf der Maur on her Tascam 4-track tape recorder in her living room home studios in the 1990s. The Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist primarily began the process on an acoustic guitar, layering her vocals atop while using 4-track tricks such as reversing the cassette or pitch shifting.
Lyrics were either streams of consciousness or lifted from her diary, with other instruments including bass, a vintage Ross phaser guitar pedal, and a cheap keyboard. Auf der Maur also used samples of everyday sounds such as a dripping leaky faucet and her camera shutter, which the musician captured with her trusty compact cassette dictaphone. Pre-orders of BASS WOMB ROOM are ongoing.
Book and Exhibition
Besides these archival recordings, BASS WOMB ROOM features eight new Alex Crow-produced interstitial sound pieces that will score Auf der Maur’s upcoming My ’90s Rock Photographs museum exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Presenting more than 200 personal photographs, the exhibit opens to members on September 2nd and to the public on September 8th. The latter date corresponds with the release date of the 240-page photobook My ’90s Rock Photographs.
My ’90s Rock Photographs follows the March release of Auf der Maur’s Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A ’90s Rock Memoir, which encompasses her stints in Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins.
Tracklist and Artwork
“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 shared in a statement. “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.”
The tracklist for BASS WOMB ROOM: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings includes 15 tracks, featuring songs such as “Active Heart”, “Courtney Chimes In”, and “Skip a Beat”. The album artwork for BASS WOMB ROOM is also available.
In conclusion, Melissa Auf der Maur’s new album BASS WOMB ROOM: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings is a highly anticipated release, marking her first new music in over 15 years. With its unique blend of previously unreleased demos and new interstitial sound pieces, this album is sure to excite fans of Auf der Maur and Hole alike. Be sure to check out the album and the accompanying book and exhibition, My ’90s Rock Photographs, for a deeper look into Auf der Maur’s creative process and career.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
Born in the small town of Respawn, Pennsylvania, Pixel grew up mashing buttons on an ancient NES controller, firmly believing that “blowing into the cartridge” was a sacred ritual passed down through generations.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte: proving that life, much like a buggy open-world game, is better with a little lag-induced chaos.
