PREMIERE: Gordi – ‘Taken Blame’

Gordi’s new track ‘Taken Blame’ does its best ‘keep calm’ impression (without the bad spin-offs and aggressive font). Her debut track ‘Nothing’s As It Seems’ made its first appearance here late last year, and her latest single ‘Taken Blame’ is just as gossamer as the first.

It could be nonchalance or just restraint, but Gordi’s delivery treads along in a way that lets in light to an otherwise insular space. Lyrically, the subject matter is a little grim, but she maintains a transformative outlook. ‘Taken Blame’ adopts a beautiful arrangement, with Gordi’s nuances interrupted by the occasional off-beat or elevated vocal harmonies that bookmark the verse.

Whirling production/echo FX in the mixing department are all nice aesthetic flourishes. It sounds like listening to a live performance in a small room with massive ceilings. You get the feeling that without all of it, Gordi’s pastoral vocal would still lend this track the same weight. In this way, she tends to the same patch as Felicity Groom and even Sharon Van Etten, who’ve groomed their alto to the tune of honest post-love songs. There’s many years to go before Gordi could pass with the chutzpah that SVE reveals when she sings about errands and bathroom habits, but she might get there.

I’ve never seen Gordi perform, but I feel like I have many times.

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Gordi is playing Mordialloc Festival on the 28th and touring with Winterbourne throughout March. See below for details.

Fri 27 Feb                     Courtyard Sessions at the Seymour Centre, Sydney  NSW

Sat 28 Feb                    Mordialloc Festival, Mordialloc  VIC

Thu 12 Mar                   Beavs Bar, Geelong VIC  (w/ Winterbourne)

Fri 13 Mar                     Tram Sessions (Tram Route TBC), Melbourne  VIC

Sat 14 Mar                    Wrangler (Afternoon), Melbourne VIC  (w/ Winterbourne)

Sat 14 Mar                    Shebeen, Melbourne VIC  (w/ Winterbourne)

Thu 19 Mar                   Moonshine, Manly NSW  (w/ Winterbourne)

Fri 20 Mar                     Brighton Up Bar, Sydney NSW (w/ Timberwolf)

Sat 21 Mar                    Newtown Social Club, Sydney NSW  (w/ Winterbourne)

Sun 22 Mar                   The Lair, Sydney NSW  (w/ Winterbourne)

Thu 26 Mar                   Lizottes, Newcastle NSW  (w/ Winterbourne)

Fri 27 Mar                     Rad, Wollongong NSW  (w/ Winterbourne)

Sat 28 Mar                    Folk in Broke Festival, Hunter Valley  NSW

Thu 09 Apr                   The Milk Factory, Brisbane QLD  (w/ Winterbourne)

Fri 10 Apr                     The Treehouse, Byron Bay NSW  (w/ Winterbourne)

Sat 11 Apr                    5 Church St, Bellingen NSW  (w/ Winterbourne)