Zohaib Today, Australian indie pop artist/producer Gordi unveils “Alien Cowboy,” an at once cathartic yet dramatic piece of pop music, a mural of a tortured fantasy. The swirling, sparsely arranged climactic track follows November’s release of Gordi’s Lunch At Dune EP – the title track of which featured a collaboration with Irish artist SOAK.
With a chorus that opens, “Won’t you blow up my universe, so that I can realize we’ve been here the whole time,” the wonderfully written and arranged song conveys a floating anti-gravitational energy equally as much as it acts as a magnetic force propelling towards danger and destruction. Production laced with dizzying experimentation while anchored by strong pop melodies, a credit to the collaborative combination of Sophie Payten (Gordi) and Costa Rican producer Matias Mora (Rebecca Black, Linkin Park, Katy Perry).
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO “ALIEN COWBOY”
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “ALIEN COWBOY”
The duo came together in Los Angeles to write and produce the song, sharing an outlook that contemplated what a gay utopia might look like. The result is a transcendental, almost supernatural piece of music with layers of sardonic lyrics filtering throughout: “Join the excommunicated; it’s your birthday. Celebrate it.”
“I was thinking about what a gay utopia would look like,” Gordi reflects on the making of the song. “ Mr Morale & The Big Steppers had just come out and we had it blaring through the speakers. I sat down at the piano and we recorded this low, subby, deteriorated part. I was imagining a scene – stumbling through the desert and this mirage appears, this beautiful Salvadore Dali-type world. Everything is melting, and there is this giant figure, with their hand outstretched, inviting me in. Fabricating an imaginary place where, as queer people, you could feel wholly accepted. When I got to the chorus, I wanted to turn this fictitious place into something internal, and suddenly maybe it’s not a place at all, but a feeling.”
The otherworldly production and songcraft are heightened in the official music video, a sprawling visual depicting this dark fantasia. “I explained this idea to my friend, Maddy Purdy, who put together a concept for a video. She said there would be two characters in the video – a person who owned a scorpion and the scorpion. I was to play both. It took nearly 2 hours to get the contacts in my eyes,” says Gordi.
Madeleine Purdy, a longtime collaborator of Gordi and hometown friend, adds, “I think it’s an interesting question to ask yourself – If you had yourself as a pet, in a gorgeous little tank where you were safe, would you free yourself? We wanted to make a video that explored what it’s like being both the master of and captive to your own life.”
Still from “Alien Cowboy” Music Video
The track was mixed by Kayla Reagan, known for her work with Eartheater, Doja Cat and 100Gecs, who underscored the spacious arrangement while amplifying the brutality of the song’s climactic post-script section.
“Alien Cowboy” marks the beginning of Gordi’s third album campaign and recently saw her perform four intimate, sold-out shows in her home country of Australia and a sold-out London show at The Old Church.
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