★ ★ ★ ★
In 38 years of making music, Kim Gordon has never remained predictable or easy. With her solo debut, No Home Record remains true to that unpredictability. This record sees Gordon at her most accessible since her post Sonic Youth no wave jam band Body/Head. The album features an infusion of, and near conflict, of different genres and styles. This “conflict” facilitates the album’s overarching sense of ambiguity and danger in contemporary society.
The album opens with a melancholic string arrangement on ‘Sketch Artist’, as if signalling Gordon’s death, only to declare her rebirth as the song’s techno infused soundscape takes hold. Gordon has stated the influence of The Stooges when she wrote this album. Nowhere is that clearer than on perhaps the finest rock song of the past year, ‘Air BnB’. This track finds the album at its atonal finest, oozing with power from its instrumentation to its lyrics. The album only grows in musical complexity with ‘Paprika Pony’, a track that’s hypnotic in its trip-hop grooves.
No Home Record is one of those rare, near-perfect, albums. Gordon pushes herself in her experimentation and writing. This album signals a powerful reinvention for a musician who has nothing to prove.
Ryan O’Rourke – Music Writer
