Play Me (Kim Gordon album)

Play Me is Gordon's third album in collaboration with producer Justin Raisen.^[2] It was recorded in Raisen's home studio.^[3]

Musically, Play Me is an album that relies primarily on Gordon's trap vocals,^[4] Raisen's industrial textures,^[5] and trip hop beats.^[6] Lyrically, Gordon focuses on aspects of modern life, such as U.S. politics^[2] and the rise of AI.^[7]

On "Busy Bee", Dave Grohl makes an appearance, playing drums on top of sped-up dialogue between Gordon and Free Kitten bandmate Julia Cafritz. The dialogue was taken from an episode of MTV Beach House that the pair guest-hosted in the 1990s.^[8]

On June 13, 2025, Gordon released "ByeBye25!", a reworking of the single "Bye Bye" from her 2024 album The Collective, with updated lyrics based on words flagged by the second Trump administration. It was accompanied with a black-and-white music video showing Gordon walking through a construction site. Proceeds from the single and associated T-shirt went to Noise for Now, a non-profit organization based on reproductive rights.^[9] Although it appears as a track on Play Me, it had been released as a standalone single.^[1]

Play Me was announced on January 14, 2026, with its release date, track listing, label, and official lead single "Not Today". Kate and Laura Mulleavy, known as the founders of Rodarte, directed the music video in which Gordon stars in a custom tulle dress that the Mulleavys designed for her. The track features Gordon singing, something she had not done in years on her records.^[1] On February 11, Gordon released the second single "Dirty Tech", a trap song with lyrics inspired by the rise of AI. Moni Haworth directed its music video, starring Gordon in an abandoned office space.^[10] Then on March 10, the title track was released with a music video directed by Barnaby Clay, and Gordon announced dates for an upcoming tour in North America and Europe spanning April to July 2026.^[11]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.5/10[12]
Metacritic	80/100[13]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Clash	8/10[14]
Classic Rock	8/10[7]
DIY	[15]
Exclaim!	8/10[16]
Hot Press	5/10[17]
The Line of Best Fit	7/10[18]
Paste	A−[19]
Pitchfork	7.0/10[20]
The Skinny	[6]
Uncut	9/10[4]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Play Me received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 from twenty-two critic scores.^[13] The review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a weighted average score of 7.5 out of 10 from twenty-four critic scores.^[12]

Victoria Segal of Mojo magazine gave Play Me four stars out of five and said Gordon "still sound[s] like an artist whose nerve endings are uninsulated, whose desire to create remains explosive".^[2] In another four-star review for the NME, Andrew Trendell described the record as "a left turn" in relation to her previous solo records, adding it "has no place being this jarring yet pleasurable from any 'rock' artist, let alone at 72".^[21] In Classic Rock magazine, Emma Johnston said that the album's "unpredictability" and "sense of anxiety" was "entirely fitting with the era we're in",^[7] and in Beats Per Minute, John Amen gave the album an 83% and opined that in a time of "chaos and unpredictability", Gordon chose to "embrace it ... [with] unflagging allure".^[22] Paste's Grant Sharples lauded Gordon's ability to use humor to both critique and mock the people in power, delivered in such a way that "never comes across as Resistance-core pedantry".^[19]

Writing for The Line of Best Fit, Devin Birse thought the album was "at its most interesting" when it was not as easily categorized into a specific genre, highlighting "Not Today" in particular.^[18] In a four-star review, JR Moores of Record Collector compared Gordon's observational lyricism to the late Mark E. Smith and described her approach as having "a first-draft feel" that succeeds in allowing room for interpretation.^[5] Joe Muggs of The Arts Desk similarly commented that its songs felt like "first drafts or even an improv session", but they gave Play Me two stars out of five, saying it "[felt] like an unfinished experiment". Muggs also said that while Gordon leans further into elements that made The Collective a good record, they criticized her vocal performance as "trapped between deadpan and declamatory".^[23]

Credits are adapted from the vinyl liner notes,^[3] except where noted.

• Kim Gordon – vocals (all tracks), guitar (2–8, 10–12), noise (3), harmonies (5), dialogue from MTV Beach House (7)^[8]
• Justin Raisen – Akai MPC sampler (except 6), bass guitar (1, 2, 6, 7), drum programming (1, 3–5, 7–10, 12), synthesizer (2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12), drums (2, 6), drum box, rhythm guitar (2), Roland 808 (3, 4, 8, 10), Roland 909 (3), Bass Station synthesizer (5), guitar (6, 7, 12), background vocals (6, 9), drum machine (6), bass synthesizer, foley (9), sub bass (10), fuzzbox (11), Nord (12)
• Ainjel Emme – background vocals (2)
• Sadpony^[a] – drum programming (5, 12), DX7 synthesizer (5)
• Julia Cafritz – dialogue from MTV Beach House (7)^[8]
• Dave Grohl – drums (7)
• Anthony Paul Lopez – drum programming, foley, Roland 808, synthesizer (11)

• Justin Raisen – production, mixing (all tracks)
• Sadpony – production (5, 12)
• Anthony Paul Lopez – production (11), mixing (all tracks)
• Brad Lauchert – engineering (all tracks)
• Mike Bozzi – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (all tracks)
• Coco Gordon Moore – body painting
• Brian Roettinger – art direction, typography
• Annabel Mehran – photography