There has been a scarcity of Courtney Love music since 2010, but just as the decade prepares to close, rock’s wayward daughter has returned. “Mother,” which is featured on the soundtrack for upcoming horror film The Turning, is a gothic epic where her smoky rasp shines.
Both the film and Love’s contribution to the soundtrack pull directly from Henry James’ classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw. “Mother” serves as a perfect reminder of the type of drama Love has always brought to her music, especially in the earliest days of Hole where she let her acting chops seep into her punk epics about her youth (“Teenage Whore”) and motherhood (“Plump”). The song launches with a metallic guitar riff, reminiscent of more heavier sounding grunge groups like Alice in Chains. On the track, Love looks to the ghosts of her past and the gloom and doom that could await her. “If I die before I wake/Just pray for me to fly,” she sings like a prayer on the song’s chorus. “I’ve got a secret or two/That no eyes can see/When I get to heaven, save a seat for me.”
Love’s only solo album was 2004’s America’s Sweetheart. Hole briefly returned in 2010 to release their fourth album Nobody’s Daughter, and Love resumed releasing solo songs in 2013. Her last solo release was tied into her guest appearance on the show Empire in 2015.