Courtney Love has shared an update on her new album and memoir – find out more below.
- READ MORE: Courtney Love: “I feel like the luckiest motherfucker in the history of rock’n’roll”
In recent months, Courtney Love has been building up hype for her second-ever solo album and long-awaited follow-up to 2004’s ‘America’s Sweetheart’. Back in November, she revealed that she’s enlisted Echo & The Bunnymen’s Will Sargent for the new album, but not the “rude” PJ Harvey.
Now, Love has shed more light on the impending project – which has yet to be officially announced and has yet to receive a release date. On Tuesday (March 4), Courtney Love was present at London’s Royal Geographical Society where she had an on-stage conversation with actor-writer Todd Almond, who was celebrating the release of his new oral history collection, Slow Train Coming: Bob Dylan’s ‘Girl From the North Country’ and Broadway’s Rebirth.
At the event, Love spoke about her forthcoming album, which she says – per trusty Courtney Love fan account fkyeahcourtneylove and Stereogum – has been in the works since 2009. Besides Sargent, the album will also feature her ex-Hole bandmate Melissa Auf Der Maur. Once work on the album is done, Love says she’ll return to touring.
Though she’s emphasised that Hole will not be reuniting, she’s added Auf Der Maur will be touring with Courtney in support of the album.
As for her memoir, Courtney Love has reportedly assured fans that it will arrive before Christmas this year, and will be distributed through HarperCollins. It’s a promising update, as Love last said in 2022 that the memoir The Girl With The Most Cake was complete, but at the time of writing has yet to be published.
Elsewhere during the event, Love performed a cover of Bob Dylan‘s ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ with Todd Almond providing support on backing vocals – check out footage of the performance here.
Love recently reunited with Auf der Maur on 070 Shake’s new cover of Tim Buckley’s ‘Song To The Siren’. In the new interview, Love said Auf der Maur “could be the actual siren”, adding: “Her voice is a full robust octave above ours, while Shake’s voice feels like a rupture in the universe – absolutely gorgeous. I love magical moments like that.”
In other Courtney Love news, she recently auctioned her handwritten lyrics to Hole’s ‘Violet’ for charity, telling NME that the song is about “more than Billy Corgan”.
The song, long thought to have been written about him following their relationship in 1990, is also ” about sitting on the fire escape of his flat, sipping cheap wine and taking a Vicodin (oh, to be young!) while the Chicago sun sets, leaving behind a bejewelled amethyst sky,” she explained. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman later actually entered the auction himself, quipping, “I think it’s about a guy I know a little bit”.
Love picked up the Icon Award at the 2020 NME Awards. In her acceptance speech, she said: I woke up this morning and I have the honour of picking up this fuck you thing [waves NME award], which is fantastic in the capital of this fantastic country where I first picked up a New Musical Express in I don’t know, 1981 in fucking Liverpool where I read the other day I lost my virginity to Joy Division’s ‘Isolation’.
“I think that’s psychotic. I’m also 18 months sober today. I can’t believe that and that’s pretty wild. Thanks so much, I’m very honoured. Thanks a lot.”
Shortly after that win, she spoke to NME about the early stages of her latest solo album. “It’s early days and I’ve recorded several new songs whilst I’ve been in London,” she said. “I’ve also taken this time to enjoy rediscovering really good songwriters like Aimee Mann, who’s from LA but went to Juilliard and is a genius and overlooked. Frances [Bean, daughter] sends me playlists, which are fantastic and full of artists that I hadn’t come across before too.”
