Matador Records
Producer: Justin Raisen
Former Sonic Youth member and alt-rock icon Kim Gordon is now on her third solo album (not including the various collabs she’s released with the likes of DJ Olive, Ikue Mori, Yoko Ono, and Loren Connors) and Play Me is a continuation of the partnership she’s forged with producer Justin Raisen. The pair seem to just get each other. “He has a real anti-establishment attitude, and I’ve always felt pretty anti-corporate,” Gordon said in a statement. “We both enjoy the freedom that we feel when we’re working.”
It shows; Play Me plays with a nihilistic, minimalist aesthetic, while simultaneously providing the soundtrack. Here, Gordon’s voice has a mournful, Robert Smith-esque quality, but it’s also cheekily playful on a song like “Square Jaw.” The album feels futuristic, venturing into electro-pop and even industrial territory at times. But there’s also a gleefully trashy punk vibe that crawls its way through the title track and onward.
Naturally, Gordon has something to say too, notably on “Post Empire.” “I have to say, the thing that influenced me most was the news,” Gordon says. “We are in some kind of ‘Post Empire’ now, where people just disappear.”
Play Me, as it turns out, is a vitally important album.
