August 2019 saw the release of ‘Sketch Artist’ which is the first single from No Home Record (out October 11th on Matador Records), the first ever solo album by multi-disciplinary artist Kim Gordon. The announcement follows the recent opening of Gordon’s solo exhibition “She Bites Her Tender Mind” at IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) in Dublin and “Lo-Fi Glamour” at Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA.
Among its nine tracks, No Home Record features afore new single ‘Sketch Artist’ accompanied by a video directed by Berlin-based experimental artist Loretta Fahrenholz which includes a cameo from actress and writer Abbi Jacobson.
No Home Record also includes Gordon’s 2016 critically lauded single ‘Murdered Out’. The album was produced largely by Justin Raisen (Charli XCX, Ariel Pink, Sky Ferreira) at Sphere Ranch in Los Angeles, along with contributions from Shawn Everett (Jim James, The Voidz, The Waron Drugs) and composer/filmmaker Jake Meginsky (L’appel Du Vide).
‘Sketch Artist’ starts with some soft wind instrument, Gordon’s unmistakable vocals come in and then boom, this leads into some heavy throbbing electronica stabs that are as unexpected as they are fucking welcome!! The thick throb continues and drives the track and Gordon’s vocals mix and meander with the loud and quieter parts of the track (which borders on industrial at times). But man is it danceable! This is a song you would NOT expect from Kim Gordon. Yet, if you read anything about Gordon’s influence on Sonic Youth, especially in the early years, she was very much the experimenter and innovator of the band’s directions and influences. It all makes sense now…
This glitchy, throbbing soup has also the ability to be poetic and prophetic at the same time and this is what makes this track an absolute revelation. Its pulsating beat is addictive and to be honest I’m not sure what I was expecting from Gordon, but this is simply extraordinary. It’s put a massive smile on my miserable face and I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album from this pioneering artist.
Just brilliant.
Review by Ioan Humphreys
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