It's been quite some time since Courtney Love last released anything more than a single under her own name - indeed, her one and only solo album, America's Sweetheart, came out in February 2004 - but if a recent flurry of TikTok posts are to be believed, the once and probably frontperson for Hole is on the cusp of finally releasing her sophomore LP as a solo artist.
On October 25, Love took to TikTok for the first time in a long time, reactivating an account which she pointedly clarified was unofficial (even though it's quite clearly her in the videos) and sharing snippets of several new songs for an album which she optimistically - and if we're honest, somewhat hesitatingly - claimed would be "coming out...Christmas."
Courtney Love during a 2010 performance by Hole
During the initial video, Love said:
“It’s Courtney, hi. I’m not going to have an official TikTok. I’m just gonna upload some teasers from my album that’s coming out… Christmas, if we’re lucky. I’m just gonna upload some teasers. This is not an official page. If you get this in your For You page, then the AI is listening. There’s just some songs, little bits… I’m not giving too much away from my album which is probably out Christmas.”
The songs can be heard by visiting Love's aforementioned "unofficial" TikTok page, with three of the snippets being pinned at the top of the page. We'll embed one below, but the rest can be more found if you click on the link above.
It must be said that the material sounds pretty great, some of it featuring Love delivering vocals reminiscent of Stevie Nicks, but it would be more than fair to say that we're a little skeptical of the claims of a Christmas release date, particularly given that one of the recurring hashtags on the posts is #newalbumsoonish.
Having said that, however, we're absolutely down with the idea of offering up a refresher course so that you can remember exactly why Courtney Love was a rock and roll darling for so many years, so we've put together a playlist to remind you. Give it a spin, and if you notice anything that we've left off, let us know. (Don't bother mentioning the absence of Hole's cover of "Gold Dust Woman," however. Trust us, if it was on Spotify, we'd have included it.)
