Hole‘s Courtney Love and Melissa Auf der Maur have reunited on 070 Shake‘s new cover of Tim Buckley‘s ‘Song to the Siren’. Check it out below.
It follows the former Hole members revealing they had been in the studio together for the first time in over two decades, earlier this year.
The cover comes from 070 Shake’s new album ‘Petrichor‘, and marks the latest rendition of the iconic track. Previously, the likes of Robert Plant, Sinéad O’Connor, Wolf Alice, Bryan Ferry, Third Eye Blind and George Michael have released versions of the 1970 hit, and earlier this year, Massive Attack covered the track alongside Elizabeth Fraser during their first live show in five years.
The experimental version of ‘Song To The Siren’ features haunting harmonies from the three vocalists. You can check it out below.
Auf Der Maur joined the band in 1994 following the death of bassist Kristen Pfaff, and remained for five years, recording the 1998 album ‘Celebrity Skin’.
Recent years have seen growing speculation about a potential Hole reunion, which Love further reignited in February when she told a crowd in London that she would be returning with the band “later”.
During a surprise performance with Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong, which included performances of ‘He’s A Whore’ and ‘Surrender’ by Cheap Trick and ‘Even The Losers’ by Tom Petty, she said: “Later… I’ll be back in Hole”.
Love and Auf der Maur did appear on stage together in October 2018 in Hudson, New York, playing Hole songs ‘Doll Parts’, ‘Miss World’ and ‘Softer Softest’.
In 2019, Love entertained the idea of getting the band back together full-time during an interview with The Guardian, telling the outlet: “We are definitely talking about it. There’s nothing wrong with honouring your past.”
This coincided with later comments she’d make with NME the following year when she revealed that she had “had a good session” at a rehearsal with ex-bandmates Patty Schemel and Auf der Maur. When NME asked her if the band would be coming back officially, she responded: “It’s something I’d love to do and I’ve been taking guitar lessons over Zoom during lockdown and I’m writing again so we’ll see!”
Courtney Love attends the Fendi Couture Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 26, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)
However, during a discussion with Vogue in 2021, Love went on to put a dampener on the prospect, saying that fans shouldn’t get their hopes up for an announcement coming any time in the foreseeable future.
“A proper Hole reunion will absolutely not [be happening],” she said at the time. “You guys have gotta get over it. Our old manager Peter Mensch calls once a year to ask about a reunion. I’m so honoured to be in that company, but it’s just not gonna happen.”
She added: “We’re all really good friends and Melissa and I are especially close – we talk every day. But Eric [Erlandson] is kinda off-the-grid right now – I think he’s in Japan literally becoming a monk.
“I’m not even kidding. Melissa, Patty and I think he’s become a monk or something on that level of aestheticism.”
Auf Der Maur, meanwhile, who also played with The Smashing Pumpkins from 1999-2000, reflected last year on her relationship with Dave Grohl, and explained why they eventually split.
Courtney Love’s handwritten lyrics to Hole’s ‘Violet’. CREDIT: Ellis Park
Elsewhere, earlier this month Love auctioned her handwritten lyrics to Hole’s ‘Violet’ for wildlife sanctuary Ellis Park. The song was the opening track to the band’s second album ‘Live Through This’ in 1994, and was written by Love three years earlier during Hole’s tour ahead of the release of their 1991 debut album ‘Pretty On The Inside’.
She also spoke about how the song is “not just about” The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan with whom Love was in a relationship in 1990. “It’s 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.
This September, she reflected on the 33rd anniversary of Hole‘s debut album ‘Pretty On The Inside’.
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