Nobody’s Daughter is the fourth and final studio album by Hole, released on April 23, 2010, by Mercury Records. The album was initially conceived as a solo project and follow up to the Hole frontwoman Courtney Love‘s first solo record, America’s Sweetheart (2004). At the urging of her friend and former producer Linda Perry, Love began writing material while in a lockdown rehabilitation center in 2005 following a protracted cocaine addiction and numerous related legal troubles. In 2006, Love, along with Perry and Billy Corgan, began recording the album, which at that time was tentatively titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean.
Following a number of live performances of the new songs between 2006 and 2007, Love decided to scrap the project, and began writing new material with the guitarist Micko Larkin, who had joined her backing band in 2007. She subsequently hired Michael Beinhorn to produce the record and began a second run of recording sessions in Los Angeles before relocating to New York City in 2009, after which Beinhorn left the project; Larkin subsequently took the role of producer.
In mid-2009, it was announced that the album, retitled Nobody’s Daughter, would be released as a Hole record, with the guitarist Larkin, the bass guitarist Shawn Dailey and the drummer Stu Fisher as members. Before the album’s release, the former Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson publicly disputed Love‘s use of the Hole name, claiming it violated a previous agreement between the two, which Love contested.
On its release, Nobody’s Daughter received generally mixed reviews from music critics, with some praising its instrumentation and lyrics, while others criticized it for its folk rock elements as well as production issues and Love‘s vocals. Despite this, Love said in 2010 that she considered it the best record she had made.
Tracklist:
- Nobody’s Daughter
- Skinny Little Bitch
- Honey
- Pacific Coast Highway
- Samantha
- Someone Else’s Bed
- For Once in Your Life
- Letter to God
- Loser Dust
- How Dirty Girls Get Clean
- Never Go Hungry (iTunes Store and Japanese bonus tracks)
- Happy Ending Story
- Codine (2020 version; Japanese release only)
Hole
Courtney Love: vocals, guitar
Micko Larkin: guitar
Shawn Dailey: bass
Stu Fisher: drums
Guest musicians
Linda Perry: electric guitar, acoustic guitar (8, 12)
Peter Thorn: electric guitar, acoustic guitar (8)
Paul Ill: bass (8)
Kellii Scott: drums (8)
Jack Irons: drums
Damon Fox: piano (8)
Peter Levin: piano, keyboards (6)
Thomas Bartlett: piano (12)
Erik Friedlander: cello (1, 3, 5–8, 12)
Jenni Muldaur: backing vocals (1, 4, 7)
Martha Wainwright: backing vocals (1, 4)
Emily Armstrong: backing vocals
Design
Artwork: Patrick Hegart
Front cover: Marie Antoinette with a Rose by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1783
Back cover: Anne Boleyn by anonymous, 16th century
Interior panel: Accident by Gretchen Ryan, 2009
Inlay: The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche, 1834
Production
Michael Beinhorn: producer
Micko Larkin: producer
Linda Perry: producer (8, 12), engineer (8)
Owen Lewis: assistant producer
Karl Egsieker: engineer[I]
Nico Essig: additional engineer[I]
Tom Syrowski: additional engineer[I]
Noah Goldstein: engineer[II]
Ryan Gilligan: additional engineer[II]
Ian Shea: additional engineer[II]
Pete Bischof: additional engineer[II]
Dave Sardy. mixing
John O’Mahoney: mixing (2)
Andy Brohard: mix engineer
Alec Gomez: additional mix engineer
Cameron Barton: additional mix engineer
John Schmersal: additional mix engineer
Dave McNair: mastering
Notes
I denotes engineer at Henson Recording Studios
II denotes engineer at Electric Lady Studios
