Kim Gordon has acquired her own absurdism to counterbalance that of the real world. 2024’s The Collective is considered by many to be her creative solo breakthrough, coming thirteen years after the official disbandment of Sonic Youth. The abrasive, liberal, experimental yet permanent breakthrough now has a direct sequel, entitled Play Me.
The follow-up could be brushed off as a simple second volume, but Play Me is the instantaneous version of The Collective’s already-asserted wit, its noisy virtue, its stubbornness where combining power noise with hip hop is concerned. Gordon continues with snappier songs that allow her political findings to feel like sudden punches to the face.
Sure, white woman in her seventies doing trap (Square Jaw) may sound like more of a sickly laugh than noble creative effort – which does bring out the best in the album shooting for more of a Fever Ray-esque digital weirdness-on-volatility with hip hop added for whimsy – and it is, but Kim has found her calling and she’s keeping it. Her calling is bold and indicative of the world it gauges.
The current whirl of fascism and cultureless AI-masochism has started to reel a new dystopia envisioned by the melting, industrial climate of Subcon. My life, your life, Kim’s life is being made to feel as uncomfortable as possible; even the more conventional framing of Dirty Tech is off-balance due to unsettled, sliding computer basses and Kim’s trademark warbled lines.
Amid her attempts at squash-squashing the urge to buy cheap goods (Nail Biter), she reapplies her warpaint and reminds herself of her own validity when making these judgements. No empty gestures, Black Out highlights the importance of never retiring from one’s own social activism, whether you’re taking it to the streets or recording music. Corporations aren’t safe, fakes aren’t safe, AI isn’t safe, America isn’t safe – Kim has determined her place in punk royalty, and the moment alone is a one-song justification of her decision to rap more.
The moment itself is better than BYEBYE25; a newer version of Bye Bye from The Collective with new soundbites grabbed out of thin air – “mental health, electric vehicle, Gulf of Mexico, energy conversion…gay…bird flu”. There’s still plenty of tact in Justin Raisen’s production – love how ‘snipped’ it is, intricately dancing from density to leanness with sudden instrumental removal – but detail suits Kim’s discourse a little more than hollowly waving goodbye to a shortlist of liberal ideals.
I, personally, much prefer it when she calls for solidarity. Holy shit is Not Today good; a swift, sweetness that wills us to mend the holes in each other’s hearts. It’s one of the few moments in which Kim does will us, as the album otherwise takes on the Louix Theroux documentarian approach that has regularly been mentioned online lately; the “let the awfulness speak for itself” approach that lets Kim do some searching in real time, rather than proudly overstate her findings.
She notes her surroundings, which does make the essence of her words appear less impactful on the tracks I’m yet to mention, but it’s hardly as though Kim and Justin don’t have other methods that may trick us into thinking she is saying something important; her pained vocal on Girl With a Look, so ready to be crushed by something; desired effect distortion on No Hands, literally distorting Kim’s voice as she loses control over this democracy she’s supposed to have a say in.
The instrumental of the title track does feel like a shiny distraction; the baddest hip hop beat available, with boom bap drums and regal trumpets. The empty-headed 808s of Post Empire aren’t distracting us from anything – that’s where the album gets a little too stubborn with hip hop in mind.
But Kim Gordon boasts her own musical language now; a manusha of crazy, noisy rock-hip hop handshakes that act as appropriately angry launching pads for her tirades against tyrants. She’s growing new limbs as we speak, and they’re maintaining the most important chapter of her career since Sonic Youth’s heyday.
Best tracks – Girl With a Look – Black Out – Not Today.
Weakest tracks – Square Jaw – Post Empire.
Rating – 7 out of 10
