Philadelphia sound and performance artist Gladys Nobriga brings together writing and experimental audio on Kiss Me When I Die, transforming a poetry project begun several years earlier into a work in which text and sound become part of the same expressive environment. The album grew from a book of original poetry released in a small edition in January 2020, some copies physically bound with strings from Nobriga's broken guitars. When sounds created during 2023 and 2024 began to resonate with the language of the book, Nobriga combined the two bodies of work into this release for Love Earth Music.

That relationship between physical material, sound and personal expression is characteristic of Nobriga's broader practice. A Philadelphia-based sound performer, visual artist, writer and activist, they work with found objects, contact microphones, analog media, texture and bodily presence, describing their performance practice as "avant-garbage": an intentionally direct approach in which discarded or ordinary materials can become vehicles for emotional and social expression. Their work has moved between experimental music, performance art, community radio and collective sound-making, including activity with Philadelphia's Sound Museum Collective.

On Kiss Me When I Die, the earlier poems provide both source and framework for sounds conceived years later, collapsing the usual separation between a written work and its subsequent musical interpretation. Rather than simply setting poetry to accompaniment, Nobriga treats words, noise, material and memory as interconnected elements, allowing a project originating on the printed page to develop into an intimate work of sound art. Released as Love Earth Music LEM-403, the album offers another perspective on the artist also heard through the Street Rat project, emphasizing the close relationship between Nobriga's writing, physical sound practice and deeply personal mode of performance.