Melissa Auf der Maur, the former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist, is releasing a collection of previously unheard 1990s recordings titled BASS WOMB ROOM: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings on Sept. 4 via Envision Records. The release marks the musician’s first new music in more than 15 years and coincides with a multi-media project involving a museum exhibition and a photography book.
The project serves as a sonic and visual archive of Auf der Maur’s creative output during the 1990s. According to the announcement, the digital and cassette release consists of seven previously unheard four-track demos recorded at home and eight sound pieces created for her museum exhibition, Melissa Auf der Maur: My ’90s Rock Photographs. This exhibition is scheduled to open Sept. 2 at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto.
A companion 240-page photography book, also titled My ’90s Rock Photographs, will be available starting Sept. 8 through the AGO and DelMonico Books/D.A.P.
The Technical Composition of BASS WOMB ROOM
Unlike the polished production of the major-label alternative rock era, BASS WOMB ROOM was recorded on a Tascam four-track in Auf der Maur’s Los Angeles living room. The recordings feature acoustic guitar, bass, and layered vocals, utilizing lo-fi tape manipulation techniques such as pitch-shifting and reversing cassettes. The announcement explicitly states that there has been no modern intervention for the release other than mastering.
The collection also incorporates field recordings captured via a cassette dictaphone. These samples include everyday sounds, such as the click of a camera shutter and a dripping faucet, which Auf der Maur carried alongside her camera. The songwriting for these demos was drawn directly from her personal diaries, covering themes ranging from the moon landing to the physical toll of playing, such as blistered fingers.
Auf der Maur described these recordings as a private counterpoint to the commercial pressures of the music industry. “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,” she said. She characterized the sounds as “the quiet and private side of the girl who joined the big American major label rock band” and a means of “keeping the Montreal art girl alive inside.”
Integration with the Art Gallery of Ontario Exhibition
The audio release is designed to function in tandem with the installation at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Co-produced with Alex Crow, the BASS WOMB ROOM installation surrounds visitors with video footage captured by Auf der Maur during her years touring with Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins. This includes raw footage shot from a Handycam positioned atop her bass amplifier during live concerts.
These audience recordings are layered with a recurring heartbeat sound. According to the project description, this heartbeat symbolizes the womb and the bass, which Auf der Maur refers to as “the mother of all instruments.”
Context within Auf der Maur’s Career and Recent Works
This archival release follows the March publication of Auf der Maur’s memoir, Even the Good Girls Will Cry. The memoir’s release led to speculative reports regarding a potential reunion of the band Hole; however, Courtney Love subsequently dismissed those rumors.
Auf der Maur’s history with Hole began in 1994, when she joined the group for the tour supporting the album Live Through This. Her entry occurred weeks after the deaths of Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff and Kurt Cobain, the husband of Courtney Love. Auf der Maur remained with Hole for five years and was featured prominently on the 1998 album Celebrity Skin.
The current project focuses on internal experimentation rather than revisiting the commercial catalog of her former bands. By pairing the lo-fi demos with the photography exhibition, the release documents the intersection of her visual and auditory art.
The exhibition opens at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Sept. 2, followed by the music release on Sept. 4 and the photography book launch on Sept. 8.
Readers may follow official updates regarding the exhibition and release dates through the Art Gallery of Ontario’s official channels. We welcome your thoughts and shares on this archival release in the comments below.