Courtney Love has been working with Echo & The Bunnymen’s Will Sargent on her new solo album – but not “rude” PJ Harvey

Courtney Love has been working with Echo & The Bunnymen’s Will Sargent on her new solo album, but not the “rude” PJ Harvey.

• READ MORE: Courtney Love: “I feel like the luckiest motherfucker in the history of rock’n’roll”

The former Hole singer has given an interview to The Standard where she has revealed details of the album she is currently working on, which would be her first solo record since 2004’s ‘America’s Sweetheart’.

While discussing dream collaborators, she disclosed that one of them has come true in the form of the long-time Bunnymen guitarist.

“Then came a miracle: Will Sargent, my favourite guitarist on earth, from my favourite band agreed to work with me,” she said. “My goodness, when he returned from LA for our first song together, I nearly fainted – he’s such an icon! If you lined up Jimmy Page, Jonny Greenwood and Will Sargent, I’d pick Sargent every time; it’s insane! He’s on this album and elevating songs beyond description.”

“He’s next level!” she continued. “Dreams do come true! Still Scouse AF. I think Scousers are my favourite Brits; he’s a genius!”

Sargent has also commented on working on Love’s new material, writing on Facebook: “My old friend Courtney Love has spilled the beans, so I think I can now. Been working on her amazing new record. Been a trip, she gave me complete artistic freedom. Loved every minute, autoharp, electric mandolin, Bulbul Tarang, baritone guitar plus layers of 12 & 6 string guitars.”

She also commented that R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe has contributed vocals to the record, which she said made her “fall down weeping”, and also discussed her admiration for Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy and Doja Cat.

One artist not currently in her good books, however, is PJ Harvey, who she says she did request an appearance on the album. “I wanted just one of her great iconic Stones guitar riffs,” Love said. “We have a relationship; I’ve endorsed her over the decades, but she chose not to respond to me.”

“So I wrote her about how fucking rude that was. Her manager tried to smooth things over, but it’s not okay – she hasn’t played rock music in 100 years! Her first five albums are great; after that, she ventured into art space (though I do love ‘The Last Living Rose’, which feels like a John Donne poem with… WTF? A tuba?)”.

Love recently reunited with her ex-Hold bandmate Melissa 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.”

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