Kim Gordon Announces Second Solo Album 'The Collective', Shares New Single BYE BYE
Tuesday, 16 January 2024
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Danielle Neu
Kim Gordon has announced her second solo album.
'The Collective' will be released on March 8 via Matador, and opens with the track BYE BYE, which is built on a meandering and distorted bassline that frames a bold mix of glitching electronic effects and industrial guitars.
The track arrives with a video starring Gordon's daughter Coco Gordon Moore. It's directed by photographer and filmmaker Clara Balzary, with cinematography by Christopher Blauvelt. Take a look below.
The art-rock legend, well known for her time with Sonic Youth, recorded the LP in her native Los Angeles with longtime collaborator and producer Justin Raisen, with additional production from Anthony Paul Lopez.
The 11-song project follows her 2019 solo debut 'No Home Record', and is accompanied by text from English artist Jospehine Pryde, which you can read below.
The Collective:
“There was a space in Kim Gordon’s No Home Record. It might not have been a home and it might not have been a record, but I seem to recall there was a space.
"Boulevards, bedrooms, instruments were played, recorded, the voice and its utterances, straining a way through the rhythms and the chords, threaded in some shared place, we met there, the guitar came too, there fell a peal of cymbals, driving on the music. We listened, we turned our back to the walls, slithered through the city at night. Kim Gordon’s words in our ears, her eyes, she saw, she knew, she remembered, she liked. We were moving somewhere. No home record. Moving.
"Now I’m listening to The Collective. And I’m thinking, what has been done to this space, how has she treated it, it’s not here the same way, not quite. I mean, not at all. On this evidence, it splintered, glittered, crashed and burned. It’s dark here. Can I love you with my eyes open? “It’s Dark Inside.” Haunted by synthesised voices bodiless. Planes of projections. Mirrors get your gun and the echo of a well-known tune, comes in liminal, yet never not hanging around, part of the atmosphere, fading in and out, like she says - Grinding at the edges. Grinding at us all, grinding us away.
"Hurting, scraping. Sediments, layers, of recorded emissions, mined, twisted, refracted. That makes the music. This shimmering, airless geology, agitated, quarried, cries made in data, bounced down underground tunnels, reaching our ears. We recalled it – but not as a memory, more like how you recall a product, when it’s flawed.
"She sings “Shelf Warmer” so it sounds like shelf life, it sounds radioactive, inside our relationships, juddering, the beats chattering, edgy, the pain of love in the gift shop, assembled in hollow booms, in scratching claps. Non-reciprocal gift giving, there is a return policy. But - novel idea – A hand and a kiss. How about that. Disruption.
"I would say that Kim Gordon is thinking about how thinking is, now. Conceptual artists do that, did that. “I Don’t Miss My Mind.” The record opens with a list, but the list is under the title “BYE BYE.” The list says milk thistle, dog sitter…. And much more. She’s leaving. Why is the list anxious? How divisive is mascara? It’s on the list. I am packing, listening to the list. Is it mine, or hers.
"She began seeking images from behind her closed eyes. Putting them to music. But I need to keep my eyes open as I walk the streets, with noise canceled by the airbuds rammed in my ears. quiet, aware, quiet, aware, they chant at me. What could be going through Kim’s head as she goes through mine?"
The American musician, singer, songwriter and visual artist will support the record with a series of US shows following its release. Tickets go on general sale at 10am local time on Wednesday (January 17).
'The Collective' tracklist:
1. BYE BYE
2. The Candy House
3. I Don’t Miss My Mind
4. I’m a Man
5. Trophies
6. It’s Dark Inside
7. Psychedelic Orgasm
8. Tree House
9. Shelf Warmer
10. The Believers
11. Dream Dollar
Kim Gordon Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Thu March 21 2024 - BURLINGTON Vermont - Higher Ground (USA)
Fri March 22 2024 - WASHINGTON District Of Columbia - Black Cat (USA)
Sat March 23 2024 - MASBETH New York - Knockdown Center (USA)
Wed March 27 2024 - LOS ANGELES California - Regent Theater (USA)
Fri March 29 2024 - VENTURA California - Music Hall (USA)
Sat March 30 2024 - SAN FRANCISCO California - Fillmore (USA)
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
