In the past year or two, Gordi, the Australian singer-songwriter Sophie Payten, has made her name with an ingratiating debut EP called Clever Disguise, as well as the occasional one-off cover, most notably a version of Bon Iver's "00000 Million" which drew out that song's lonesome cavernousness. That buildup is about to get a major payoff, with a new full-length album, Reservoir, due out August 25.
Reservoir's first single, "Heaven I Know," has a stately, epic quality to it, beginning with a chilling repetition of the opening count-off, flowing into vocal effects that conjure memories of Imogen Heap. Of course, Gordi's pals and occasional collaborators in Bon Iver have employed similar tricks before, and that band's DNA permeates Reservoir in all the right ways (including, it turns out, a guest vocal by S. Carey in one song). But Gordi is her own formidable talent, and "Heaven I Know" goes a long way toward carving out a distinct identity, wherein warmth and cool feel altogether indistinguishable.
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