Australian folktronica singer-songwriter Gordi has shared the new single, ‘Inhuman’. A soul-baring timestamp of a stint as an emergency doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘Inhuman’ encapsulates a uniquely Australian experience of 2020, as the pandemic took hold while parts of the country were still recovering from ravaging bushfires.
“When I wrote this song, I was thinking about the blackened roadsides on my drive from Sydney to Lismore in 2019,” Gordi’s Sophie Payten explained in a statement. “I had to turn back halfway because the fires were too out of control.”
Watch the video for Gordi’s new single ‘Inhuman’
Payten was on her way to begin working at Lismore Hospital. Once there, Payten met “countless patients who couldn’t be discharged because their homes had been destroyed,” she recalled. “Hearing one story after the next made me numb and being numb to that sort of tragedy feels like forgetting to be human.”
‘Inhuman’ is accompanied by an amusing video, which depicts Gordi being stalked by a giant lobster while on a walk around Melbourne. Directed by frequent collaborator Triana Hernandez and dreamed up by Gordi, it’s a colourful and abstract metaphor for how we learn to wrestle with widespread tragedy.
“Escaping the inescapable was the vision for the video,” Payten said. “When I pictured this inescapable tragedy, I pictured a giant red lobster – stalking me until eventually I couldn’t ignore it anymore.”
The single will appear as the title track on a new EP from the celebrated singer-songwriter, due out on Friday, 19th August. The process of creating the Inhuman EP allowed Gordi to reclaim her voice after the prolonged stint as an ER doctor. ‘Inhuman’ follows ‘Way I Go’ in providing a glimpse of what we can expect from Inhuman. The EP is available for pre-order here.
Gordi – ‘Way I Go’
Further Reading
Watch Gordi And Alex Lahey Perform Their Recent Collab ‘Dino’s’ Together
Alex Lahey, Haiku Hands And More Nominated For APRA Screen Music Awards
Ben Folds & Gordi To Kick Off New Winery Concert Tour ‘Cellar Door Series’
