Sydney singer-songwriter Gordi – AKA Sophie Payten – has a new record out in June called Our Two Skins. She’s already given us a pair of breathtaking singles, ‘Aeroplane Bathroom’ and ‘Sandwiches’, and now she’s shared another, equally stunning track with ‘Volcanic’.
The song was written by Payten in 2018 after a call from her parents urging her to share the truth of her sexuality to her ailed grandmother, what she describes as “a kind of exorcism”.
“It speaks to a rush of anxiety – about why, about what is real and what is not, about the drama of it, about the vortex of it,” she explains.
“When it surges you can feel paralysed and out of control at the same time – ‘shut down’ and ‘manic.’ Its self-destructive nature can be so crippling. I wanted the song to feel like a wave of anxiety. The tempo never changes but the piano solo starts at half-time and rushes until it is double the speed, though the beat never changes. And then suddenly; it’s over.”
The follow-up to 2017’s Reservoir, Payten’s first album as Gordi, Our Two Skins sees the songwriter explore themes of isolation, emptiness, grappling with identity and ultimately, rediscovery.
She recorded the album at a makeshift studio in an old cottage at her parents’ farm in Canowindra with minimal equipment, working with the assistance of Bon Iver production team Chris Messina and Zach Hanson. Without phone reception or wi-fi, it seems like the ideal location to make a record that explores feelings of internal remoteness.
The new song comes accompanied by a Madeleine Purdy-directed music video, shot at said farm, which you can check out below. Our Two Skins is slated for release Friday, 26th June.
