"The thing that influenced me most was the news. We are in some kind of ‘post empire’ now, where people just disappear." Sonic Youth legend Kim Gordon announces new album Play Me, shares new single Not Today

Kim Gordon, 2026 — (Image credit: Moni Haworth)

Former Sonic Youth vocalist/bassist Kim Gordon has announced details of her third solo album, Play Me, and shared the record's first single, Not Today.

The follow-up to 2024's well-received The Collective, Play Me will be released on March 13 by Matador Records.

"I have to say, the thing that influenced me most was the news," says Gordon of the album, which is produced by Justin Raisen (Charli XCX, Sky Ferreira, Yves Tumor). "We are in some kind of ‘post empire’ now, where people just disappear."

According to a Matador press statement, the album "processes, in Gordon’s inimitable way, the collateral damage of the billionaire class: the demolition of democracy, technocratic end-times fascism, the A.I.-fueled chill-vibes flattening of culture - where dark humor voices the absurdity of modern life.

"But despite its frequent outward gaze," the statement continues, "Play Me is an interior record, one in which a heightened emotionality pulses through physical jams, rejecting definitive statements in favor of an inquisitiveness that keeps Gordon searching, ever in process."

The album, which features a guest appearance from Dave Grohl on drums, is described as "distilled and immediate."

"We wanted the songs to be short," Gordon says. "We wanted to do it really fast. It’s more focused, and maybe more confident. I always kind of work off of rhythms, and I knew I wanted it to be even more beat-oriented than the last one."

The listening public's introduction to the album comes in the form of new single Not Today.

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The album tracklist is:

1. Play Me
2. Girl With A Look
3. No Hands
4. Black Out
5. Dirty Tech
6. Not Today
7. Busy Bee
8. Square Jaw
9. Subcon
10. Post Empire
11. Nail Biter
12. ByeBye25!

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

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