From a muddy moshpit at Reading 1991 to a head nodding beat driven gig at Gorilla a few years ago, it’s fair to say that Kim Gordon’s music has been a consistent presence on my eardrums for the last few decades. Her debut solo album ‘No Home Record’ released in 2019, set the tone in terms of modern cultural reflections within her lyrics, which were firmly in place for its follow up too, the Grammy nominated ‘The Collective’ released in 2024. For her third solo album Kim continues her collaboration with producer Justin Raisen (Charlie XCX, Sky Ferreira, Yves Tumor), both bringing a sense of dystopian chic to proceedings, with Justin’s cut up beats and electronica providing the perfect launchpad for Kim’s lyrics.
Kim Gordon’s meteoric rise as a multi-disciplinary artist operating on her own terms is such an important and fantastic feat to witness. At 72, she seems to be more popular now than ever, even to those who weren’t even born when Sonic Youth graced the indie charts (and the muddy festival fields of the 90s!) As well as the acclaimed biography ‘Girl In A Band’ which went straight to number one on the NY Times book charts, there’s her acting roles in 2018’s ‘Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot’ directed by Gus Van Sant, plus in recent years there have also been two art books, art exhibitions in New York, a dance and music stage production, and a fashion sale of her outfits with proceeds going to the Downtown Women’s Center in LA. Does this woman ever sleep? Yep, over the last few years, Kim Gordon has been busier than ever, all of which has helped fuel the fire for the explosively brilliant new album ‘Play Me’.
From the moment the opening beats and jazzy undertones of the title track kick in, its infectious grooves become like a rhythm driven earworm, topped off with Kim singing lists of playlists on Spotify “Rich popular girl, villain mode, jazz in the background” she states in her unmistakable vocal style. Next, ‘Girl With A Look’ finds Kim imploring in her dulcet vocal style “you’re a boy with a hook, a girl with a look” over dance orientated beats with synth blasts reflecting on the assumptions people make based purely on appearance. With each song under three minutes, the whole album creates a sense of urgency, where lyrical fragments of everyday life are matched with sound snippets and hefty beats.
Dystopian synths and glitch fuelled rhythms provide the brilliant backbone for ‘No Hands’ with distorted heavier synths and guitars also joining the party whereas ‘Dirty Tech’ finds more flowing beats accompanying Kim’s lyrics and the more solid grooves continue for ‘Not Today’. In contrast, ‘Square Jaw’ has woozy deep synth vibes rolling under sliced up beats and Kim exclaiming “I’ll sucker punch you”. Her yearning vocal style is the perfect topping for the cut up beats and samples which are the backbone of each tune, with Justin’s style of programming fitting those lyrical snapshots perfectly.
Some of the deepest distorted synth melodies can be found on ‘Subcon’ with Kim proclaiming “you wanna got to Mars, and then what?” It’s head noddingly infectious, as is ‘Post Empire’ with its deep grooves, catchy guitar and samples. ‘ByeBye25’ updates her previous version of the tune found on ‘The Collective’ with an equally relevant list of stuff for the past year but with a twist, using words banned by the Trump administration. When it was released as a single last summer, proceeds from the single were donated to charity Noise For Now.
Her former band Sonic Youth were never ones for compromise, and all of her musical projects outside of that band from Free Kitten to Harry Crews were filled with the same uncompromising stance. Now ten years into a successful solo career, that musical vision remains firmly intact, making ‘Play Me’ a refreshingly brilliant album from start to finish and a contender for album of the year already.
Kim Gordon: Play Me – Out 13th March 2026 (Matador Records)
From the early days of creating handmade zines, in a DIY paper and glue style, interviewing bands around town, then pestering Piccadilly Records to sell them, to writing for various independent mags such as Chimp and Ablaze, writing about the music I love is still a great passion. After testing the music industry waters in London with stints at various labels, being back in my hometown again, writing about this city’s vibrant music scene is as exciting as ever. All time favourite bands include Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, Patti Smith although anything from electro to folk via blues and pysch rock will also do nicely too. A great album, is simply a great album, regardless of whatever musical cage you put it in.
