Shirley Manson’s Label Apparently Unfamiliar With Garbage Catalog

Oh, “women in alt-rock” of yore, where are you these days? Well, Liz Phair is reviewing books. Beth Gibbons is being self-deprecating right after she gets offstage. And Shirley Manson of Garbage has been working for the MAC AIDS Fund and adopting a rescue dog–and she’s been working on a solo album, too, although don’t expect it to be in stores anytime soon. The project has hit a snag–not because she doesn’t want to work on it, but apparently because it’s too gloomy for the suits at her label. No, really!

For years now, rumours of a Manson solo album have hung in the air. An interesting slew of names has been connected with the project – everyone from Jack White of the White Stripes to Paul Buchanan of the Blue Nile, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins and solo singer Beck. But whether some, all or none of these have been involved (Manson, in one of her more stubborn moments, refuses to elaborate), the project has hit the rocks.

“I had a lot of material, but unfortunately I played it for my record label and they thought it was very ‘noir’, which I took as a huge compliment until I got home and realised they didn’t mean it as a compliment at all. As a result we’re sort of at an impasse. I don’t know what will happen. I think, maybe, they have a different idea of the kind of career I should have to the one that I want.”

So what kind of career does she want?

“I’m 41,” she says. “I’m a woman, I’m not a kid any more. I’m not interested in getting up in a short skirt and singing a pop song. Unfortunately, record labels feel that’s what they need in order to have success. Look at Madonna. She’s still having to churn out pop hits and she’s 50. I don’t think that’s right.

“I’ve had a really successful career. I don’t really need to do anything for money and I certainly have no intention of doing that. I just want to live a creative life and sing songs that have some meaning for me personally.”

I just want to know what “too noir” could possibly mean in the context of the woman who sang these songs:

I mean, really. Does every 40something woman have to collaborate with Timbaland or Mims in order to get an album on shelves?

On the edge of her seat [The Scotsman via ONTD] [Photo: AP]