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Melissa Auf der Maur Reveals Bass Womb Room Archive Release

The project pairs seven unheard 1990s four‑track demos with newly made sound interludes for an Art Gallery of Ontario installation and a companion photobook.

Overview

  • Auf der Maur announced the project on Monday, July 20, 2026, and said the collection will be released digitally and on cassette on September 4, 2026.
  • The record combines seven previously unreleased four‑track demos she recorded and self‑mixed in the 1990s with eight new interludes created to score the museum installation.
  • Auf der Maur says the tapes received no modern reworking beyond mastering to preserve their lo‑fi Tascam sound and diary‑style vocals.
  • The installation, co‑produced with Alex Crow, opens at the Art Gallery of Ontario on September 2 and uses archival handycam audience footage and a recurring heartbeat motif; a 240‑page photobook follows on September 8 via DelMonico Books/D.A.P.
  • The release is her first new music in more than 15 years, follows a March memoir that renewed interest in her archive, and reframes her ’90s touring years as personal archival art rather than a band reunion.