Kim Gordon has shared the first official song off of Coming Apart, the upcoming album from her Body/Head project featuring free-noise guitarist Bill Nace. “Actress” premiered on Rookie today, offering a fuzzed-up, droning slab of six-string experimentation, pairing the Sonic Youth co-founder’s speak-sing vocals with controlled chaos. You’ll find that slowly sprawling work streaming below.
Coming Apart arrives in North America on September 10 and drops in the U.K. and Europe on September 16 via Matador Records. This will be Body/Head’s most widely distributed release to date, following a series of limited-press LPs. Though the duo’s work can still be categorized as “scripted improvisation,” this will also be Body/Head’s most “traditional” record yet. According to the label, “They have even started writing and playing ‘songs’ now, compositionally distinct from their purely aleatory origins, but still featuring lots of built-in improvisational space.”
Speaking to Stereogum recently, Gordon detailed the creative process behind the album. “Basically we just played a lot together and then went through and edited things, picked the pieces we wanted to use for the record, and then went back and did some overdubs,” she said. “Actually, there’s very little editing on the final recordings … For the most part it was all improvised … it’s kind of intense to listen to in one setting. It’s not happy music, you know?”
Like every other member of Sonic Youth, Gordon will embark on a string of U.S. tour dates this fall. Find the details of Body/Head’s live schedule at the bottom of this post. Pre-orders of Coming Apart are currently available through the Matador Store.
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Coming Apart track list:
1. “Abstract”
2. “Murderess”
3. “Last Mistress”
4. “Actress”
5. “Everything Left”
6. “Can’t Help You”
7. “Aint”
8. “Black”
9. “Frontal”
Body/Head tour dates:
September 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
September 12 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
September 13 – San Diego, CA @ San Diego Music Thing
September 14 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
September 21 – Lexington, KY @ Boomslang Festival
September 24 – Chicago, IL @ Museum of Contemporary Art
September 25 – Detroit, MI @ Museum of Contemporary Art
October 2 – Augusta, GA @ Westobou Festival – Sacred Heart Cultural Center
