The former Sonic Youth guitarist released her third solo album in March, and she recently visited The Tonight Show to perform the opening track, “Play Me.” Dressed in a Knicks jersey, Gordon ran the late‑night stage with her band, delivering a blues‑inflected rock rendition of the lead single from the eponymous LP.
“Play Me,” which dropped in March, marks Gordon’s third solo studio effort. For the project, she once again collaborated with Justin Raisen, who co‑produced her previous two releases. Her intention was to make the record “more beat‑oriented than the last one.”
When asked about the album’s lyrical inspiration, Gordon noted that current events had the strongest impact: “We’re in some kind of ‘post‑empire’ now, where people just disappear.” She added that her music is driven more by rhythm and beats than by traditional vocal techniques.
“I don’t have the kind of voice to be a singer‑singer, and I get really inspired by rhythm and beats,” Gordon told Rolling Stone. “Occasionally a melody will pop out of somewhere accidentally, but this kind of vocal just feels most natural for me.”
She described her current work as a form of personal art, saying, “I see the music I’m making now as really—without sounding pretentious— it is kind of my art, in a way. It’s not really aspiring to be anything else.”
Gordon is touring to support Play Me, with shows slated in New York City and across the United States throughout the summer, including a performance at Summerfest in Milwaukee this June.
