Melissa Auf der Maur has announced BASS WOMB ROOM: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings, a soundtrack for her upcoming photography exhibit, out Sept. 4 via Envision Records.
The collection of songs is her first new music in 15 years and includes seven previously unheard four-track demo recordings written and taped by Auf der Maur in the ’90s, alongside eight newly composed interludes created specifically for her upcoming exhibition.
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Melissa Auf der Maur: My ’90s Rock Photographs Exhibition will open on Sept. 2 at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, with the corresponding photobook out Sept. 8 via DelMonico Books/D.A.P. and the AGO.
The installation will feature a mirrored pyramid of surround video and sound that is the exhibition’s centrepiece, with corresponding interludes on BASS WOMB ROOM. Much of the audio is sourced from Handycam recordings Auf der Maur made by placing a camera on her bass amplifier during Hole and Smashing Pumpkins concerts.
“In every photo I take of the crowd, there’s someone — it’s like a Where’s Waldo — that sees my camera and is making eye contact,” Auf der Maur said to AP about her photography earlier this year.
“These people need to be seen. They’re the reason we’re here. Without them, there is no music. They’re the most important subject of [Even the Good Girls Will Cry], other than me and my band. The power of those crowds gave me life. You go to a show, and it gives you a portal to believing in magic and believing in yourself.”
Hear a preview of “Skip A Beat” and see the tracklist below.
Melissa Auf der Maur – 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” (feat. the Hunger World)
- “River’s Dream”
- “Sea Of Tranquility”
- “Skip A Beat”
