L7 have released “Loma Linda,” a song they originally recorded with bassist Janis Tanaka, who played with the band from 1999 to 2001.
The track was originally recorded in 2003, but the demo gets a new spin with updated music and lyrics that were culled
this week, according to a statement. The band is making the track available as a free download for this week via their website before it is released on streaming platforms as a gesture of gratitude to Jennifer Finch, Tanaka, and fans for their support following the death of bassist Finch. Finch died after a battle with brain cancer on July 18 at the age of 59.
“This new single marks the return of Janis Tanaka being back in L7 on bass after the sadness of losing Jennifer Finch a couple of months ago,” singer-guitarist Donita Sparks said in a statement. “I was searching the band’s archives and came across this unfinished track from when Janis was in the band. It still sounded rather fresh and very L7 so we recorded new vocals with new lyrics and some other additional tracks and cranked it out in a couple of days ahead of this upcoming tour. Gotta warn ya, we dig it and hope you do too.”
L7 are embarking on their final world tour, dubbed The Last Hurrah Tour, which kicks off tomorrow in San Diego at Casbah. In an interview with Rolling Stone following Finch’s death and as they prepared for the tour, Sparks shared that Finch’s doctors had given her hope that she might be able to play their fall dates.
“It’s a really weird feeling of grieving but also having to keep the ball moving forward,” Sparks said. “I wrote this down: ‘I just have to do a little bit each day, and if I can do a little bit each day, I can get through this and all of us can get through this.’ It’s just really a little bit at a time.
“The tour is supposed to be joyous saying goodbye,” she continues. “We can celebrate Jennifer. Now there’s going to be a lot more emotion with it for sure. We’re tying up our career with a ribbon. That’s what Jennifer wanted us to do, so we’re doing it.”
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