Australian indie-pop artist Gordi is back with ‘Alien Cowboy’, a track that feels like a hypnotic trip through a surreal western. It’s eerie, cinematic and packed with big ideas.
The single follows her Lunch at Dune EP from November, which featured a collaboration with Irish artist SOAK. This time, she teams up with Costa Rican producer Matias Mora to explore what a gay utopia might look like.
A soundtrack for an imaginary world
“I was thinking about what a gay utopia would look like,” Gordi says. “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers [by Kenrick Lamar] 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 Salvador Dalí-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. Suddenly, maybe it’s not a place at all but a feeling.”
That dreamlike atmosphere carries into the song’s production. Sparse and slow-burning, it feels like a hallucination drifting in and out of focus.
A video as unsettling as the song
The music video doubles down on the song’s eerie energy. Directed by Gordi’s longtime collaborator Madeleine Purdy, it sees Gordi playing two roles. The owner of a scorpion and the scorpion itself. “It took nearly two hours to get the contacts in my eyes,” she says.
Purdy explains the idea behind it. “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 you? We wanted to make a video that explored what it’s like being both the master of and captive to your own life.”
The result is unsettling and oddly beautiful. It turns ‘Alien Cowboy’ into more than just a song. It’s a full-on psychological trip.
A new chapter for Gordi
The single marks the start of Gordi’s next album era. She recently played four sold-out shows in Australia, plus a packed-out London gig at Old Church.
Since breaking through with Reservoir and 2020’s Our Two Skins, Gordi has become one of Australia’s most distinctive voices. She’s worked with Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers and Troye Sivan, co-wrote the theme song for The Mitchells vs. the Machines and even went back to work as a doctor during the pandemic.
With ‘Alien Cowboy’, she’s setting the tone for what’s next. If this track is anything to go by, her third album is going to be something special.
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- Alien Cowboy
- Australian Music
- Gordi
- Indie Pop
- Madeleine Purdy
- Matias Mora
- Music Video
- New music
- Queer Utopia
