Australian electro-pop artist Gordi (real name Sophie Payten) returns with a gut-punching, powerhouse album Like Plasticine. Gordi weaves infectious pop rhythms amongst themes of mortality, grief, queerness and love, for a record that is filled with both heart-wrenching vulnerability and uplifting euphoria.
As a final-year medical student, Payten was faced with certifying death through observing people’s unresponsive stillness. Grief, loss and love in various forms are threaded throughout Like Plasticine.
[Their skin] made me think of plasticine – that soft, malleable substance, that we can shape and mould in our hands, until we leave it to set in place. I thought about all the ways we are like plasticine in life – how forces we can’t control, contort us into shapes, stretch us thin, and test our resilience. But sometimes, heart-wrenching change can be a thing of beauty.”
-Gordi
‘Alien Cowboy’ is filled with otherworldly sound textures, combined with moments of sparse production. Gordi’s vocals have qualities of delicacy and vulnerability, juxtaposed with crashing walls of sound for a track that is heavy and light all at the same time. Lyrics such as ‘Won’t you blow up my universe, so that I can realise we’ve been here the whole time’ and ‘Join the excommunicated, it’s your birthday celebrate it’ fantasise a sort of sanctuary for queer people.
I was thinking about what a gay utopia would look like. Fabricating an imaginary place where, as queer people, you could feel wholly accepted.”
-Gordi
‘PVC Divide’ is delicate and emotive, highlighting the stark realities of working in a medical setting during the pandemic. Atop light piano melodies, Gordi recalls a conversation with a patient when she had to deliver the unfathomable news that they had found multiple aggressive tumours in his brain; the simplicity in his acceptance. Folk singer-songwriter and writer of the Broadway musical ‘Hadestown’, Anaïs Mitchell contributes guest vocals.
Went to his room / I told him the news He said he didn’t mind / I’m used to it / Is it bad? Yeah it’s bad / How long? How long? How long? How long? I was wrong How long? / It was written for me
Lyrics in PVC Divide
He’d been getting better, and the plan for him was to go home and move on with his life. And then it turned out he had five new tumours in his brain. That was the end for him. And I had to tell him that without his family there.”
Sophie Payten / Gordi
‘Peripheral Lover’ is a joyful piece of pop production with poignant messages surrounding the complexities of coming out and being in a queer relationship in this in-between stage of self-discovery.
’Peripheral Lover’ feels like a beautiful exploration of that early part of coming out where you’re in a relationship but you’re not ready to take it public or let people know.”
-Gordi
Like Plasticine is a sonic treat of ethereal softness, ascending anthemic pop, and unforgettable, driving rhythms. Gordi has an open-journal way of telling her stories that will bring tears while you’re dancing to her infectious brand of transcending electro-pop. Out now via Mushroom Music.
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