Melissa Auf der Maur is heading back to the ‘90s, and releasing her first new music in over 15 years.
The Canadian bassist, known for working with Hole and Smashing Pumpkins, is set to release Bass Womb Room: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings, an album of 15 unreleased demos and interludes from the 1990s, on Sept. 4.
Produced by Montreal musician Alex Crow, most of the tracks are built around old field recordings that Auf der Maur created by placing a handycam on her amp during her time with Hole and as a touring member of the Smashing Pumpkins.
Of the Bass Womb Room tracks, Auf der Maur shared that she “wrote these songs in the context of rising pressure” from major labels and her industry peers “to make glossy hit songs to dominate radio airwaves.”
“These songs are the sound of my internal experimentation and a way of keeping the Montreal art girl alive inside,” she continued. “These sounds are the quiet and private side of the girl who joined the big American major label rock band.”
Announcing the album on social media, Auf der Maur revealed that it only made sense to release some of her own music from the ‘90s, following the release of her memoir, Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A ’90s Rock Memoir, which further details her stints as a rock band bassist.
“I share my most personal stories, my photographs bare behind the scenes, breasts and bloody noses, so no better time to share the quiet shy experimental sounds inside from the time. Early song sketches, sound experiments … inside out,” she wrote.
Bass Womb Room is a companion album to Auf der Maur’s upcoming photography exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, Melissa Auf der Maur: My ‘90s Photographs. It’s set to feature over 200 photographs that capture an intimate portrait of the last analogue decade.
Running from September 2026 to spring 2027, the AGO is calling the exhibit “a time capsule of Generation X,” through the lens of the Canadian musician. The public opening of Auf der Maur’s exhibit will be commemorated with the release of the musician’s 240-page photobook My ’90s Rock Photographs.
While this year is shaping up to be a major moment for Auf der Maur on her own, many fans are vying for a Hole reunion, which frontwoman Courtney Love says isn’t happening, but claims she and Auf der Maur will play “some shows” and “new songs” together in the future.
Bass Womb Room: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings Tracklist:
- Active Heart
- …And the Next Day
- Courtney Chimes In
- Desire is Critical
- In the Reflection
- Water Wars
- Flesh Flush
- Is She His
- Billy Seoul Crowd
- Love Is the Drug
- Sparkle Bass
- Fancy Piece (Featuring The Hunger World)
- River’s Dream
- Sea of Tranquility
- Skip a Beat
Listen to a teaser of the closing track, “Skip a Beat,” below:
