Melissa Auf Der Maur

Out of Our MindsRoadrunner **

We’d like to think that it was no coincidence that Hole’s former bassist releases her new album just as Courtney Love and co are making their comeback, but sometimes that’s just how release schedules go. Auf der Maur has been reduced, perhaps by choice, to something of a session musician in recent years, but once you’ve heard her second album, the vacillation on her solo career makes sense. The main problem with

Out of Our Minds

is its dithering uniformity; apart from one or two songs – such as the churning, quick-paced

The Key

– these are dreary, tentatively “epic” alt-rock tunes lacking in insistency and sincerity. It almost sounds as though Auf der Maur is too bothered to make any real effort – so why should we?

See aufdermaur.com

Download tracks: The Key, Meet Me on the Dark Side