The project of Australian singer-songwriter Sophie Payten, Gordi’s music is powered by the kind of stark emotional honesty that lies at the center of any great ballad. ‘Aeroplane Bathroom’, the track that properly starts off her sophomore album, serves as a striking introduction to the rawness of her songwriting, one that sits comfortably near the top of the most soul-crushing piano ballads of the year. Written on a flight from Australia to Europe, Payten had a lot on her mind: “I can’t get my shit together in this aeroplane bathroom / I’m wondering why I haven’t seen myself before,” she sings. Stripping down a lot of the layers that made up her indie pop debut Reservoir in 2017, Our Two Skins manages to carry the sense of intimacy that’s implied in the album’s title throughout its runtime, aided by previous collaborators Chris Messina and Zach Hanson (both of whom have worked with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, whose influence can be heard throughout the album’s tender palette). The equally wrenching vulnerability of tracks like ‘Volcanic’ and ‘Radiator’ makes the album’s more hopeful moments feel all the more earned, like the heartfelt ‘Extraordinary Life’, where Payten proclaims “It’s like you’re in my chest/ It’s like you’re in my lungs”. The slow-burning ‘Free Association’ is the kind of cinematic closer an album like this deserves: Our Two Skins is not only a beautiful record, but one full of revelations.
We caught up with Sophie Payten for this edition of our Artist Spotlight series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and give them a chance to talk a bit about their music.
What’s your earliest musical memory?
Sitting in the car with my grandmother. She would drive me into town and teach me old songs and I’d sit in the front seat and barely be able to see over the dashboard. I don’t really remember a time when I didn’t sing or hum. Before I discovered records I was really just learning catholic church hymns. But then I came across ‘Stranger’ by Billy Joel and it probably made me fall in love with music.
What are some of your influences?
Early on I was listening to Billy Joel, Carole King, James Taylor, Eva Cassidy, The Beatles – I think most of us grow up listening to our parents’ records. When I turned 12 I was given the debut record of an Australian artist named Missy Higgins; that was a real turning point for me. It was the first music that truly resonated with me on a lyrical level because of the personal, diary-entry style. A little while later, my aunty showed me ‘Alas, I Cannot Swim’ by Laura Marling, which continued me on that folk journey. My brothers got me listening to The Tallest Man on Earth, The Postal Service and Bloc Party. I discovered Bon Iver and Sigur Ros and Death Cab, then Asgeir, Sharon Van Etten, The National and Perfume Genius. I could literally go on forever.
What were some of the ideas that went into the making of Our Two Skins?
Essentially we wanted every aspect of the record – the sonics, the songs, the visuals – to all look and feel like the place in which the record was made. We made it on my family farm outside a small town called Canowindra. Throughout the album you can hear a lot of sounds that we recorded with a field recorder around the property; revving vehicles, swinging gates, clashing chains.
The name ‘Our Two Skins’ tries to capture a lot of the ideas in the songwriting; intimacy between two people, death and grief, and finding an identity in the world’s landscape. At the time I wrote this record, Australia was voting on same-sex marriage while I was falling in my love with my friend. There is a particular kind of isolation that comes with being told your rights are limited because of something you cannot change about yourself. It was a turbulent time of trying to maintain a sense of self-worth.
How was your approach different from your debut album, Reservoir?
‘Reservoir’ was my first album and I recorded it between Reyjakvik, New York, LA, Eau Claire and Sydney with a number of different people. I wrote the songs over a period of a few years and then looked back at them and thought – what is the story I’m trying to tell? I had a string quartet on the record, horns, thickly layered vocals; it was like a rich soup.
‘Our Two Skins’ is very different. I recorded it in a cottage on my parents’ farm with Chris Messina and Zach Hanson in 4 weeks. The story of the album is very linear, starting with ‘Aeroplane Bathroom’ and ending with ‘Sandwiches’. We purposely put limitations on the process – we had a small number of instruments, pedals and recording gear which we had to predetermine. The essence of the record was about what felt true to the songs and we were committed to this idea; what is the least amount of stuff we need to tell this story? Where ‘Reservoir’ was a rich soup, ‘Our Two Skins’ is bare bones; no bells and whistles.
What are your favorite tracks from the new album?
‘Volcanic’, ‘Radiator’ and ‘Free Association’.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
That will largely be determined by the pandemic. I’m hoping I’ll be able to play some shows in at least Australia and New Zealand. This month I am playing a live streamed show with a band from the Sydney Opera House. At the moment I’m also taking time away from my other career, which is working as a doctor. I’m going to start a Masters in Public Health this semester while the world is somewhat on pause. And of course; I will write.
Gordi will play a livestreamed launch gig for Our Two Skins on Saturday, July 25 at 9pm, from the Sydney Opera House. Find more info here.
Dublin rapper Rejjie Snow has shared a new song featuring MF DOOM and Cam O’bi called ‘Cookie Chips’. Accompanied by a quirky video directed by Machine Operated in which Rejjie walks around a park with a bunch of balloons, ‘Cookie Chips’ is a hazy, sun-drenched tune that’s perfect for the summer. Check it out below.
“I love making music & creating moments,” Rejjie said in a statement. “It feels good to bring out this song in such an unaccustomed time & begin this new chapter in a solid & happy place.”
The track marks the first taste of new music from Rejjie since he released his debut album, Dear Annie, back in 2018.
FKA twigs has unveiled a new short film called We Are The Womxn in collaboration with WeTransfer. Highlighting “the dynamic healing of womxn of colour”, the Ivar Wigan-directed video was filmed during the artist’s 2019 tour in support of her most recent album, MAGDALENE. Check it out below.
The film revolves around a trip to Atlanta’s Afropunk festival last year, where twigs performed a sacred moon dance coordinated by spiritual leader Queen Afua. It also includes clips of twigs visiting Blue Flame, Atlanta’s first Black strip club.
Speaking of shooting the film, twigs said: “I’m actually pretty shy, but I felt so encouraged to dance and enjoy my body by all the amazing womxn who came together. I particularly bonded with one dancer at Blue Flame [named] Kharisma. She had such vibrant energy, and at the beginning of the night she called the other girls on to the stage to be admired and supported in their expression.”
She added: “My experience at the Blue Flame solidified that, although historically womxn are often pitched against each other for their looks or their assets by the patriarchy, when left to our own devices we are incredibly nurturing and healing for each other.”
Yo La Tengo have launched a Bandcamp page and shared a new 5-minute ambient piece titled ‘James And Ira Demonstrate Mysticism And Some Confusion Holds (Monday)’. Listen to it below.
Speaking about the new track, Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan explained: “If you’ve spent any time hanging out with us at our rehearsal space in Hoboken — that pretty much covers none of you — you’ve heard us playing formlessly (he said, trying to sidestep the word ‘improvising’). Most of the songs we’ve written in the last 25 years have begun that way, but often we do it for no other reason than to push away the outside world.”
He added: “In late April, with the outside world weighing on everybody, we determined that the three of us could assemble in Hoboken without disobeying the rules laid out by Governor Murphy, and resumed… ‘practicing’ hardly describes it, because we’ve done no practicing per se, and anyway what would we be practicing for… playing. James set up one microphone in the middle of the room in case we stumbled on something useful for the future. Instead we decided to release something we did right now.”
The track marks the first taste of new music from the band since their 2018 album There’s A Riot Going On. Recently, Yo La Tengo announced a 25th anniversary reissue of their 1995 album Eclectr-o-pura, out in September via Matador’s Revisionist History series.
Just months after releasing his sophomore album, græ, Moses Sumney has returned with a new track called ‘Monumental’. Released as part of a collaboration with designer Thom Browne’s SS21 collection, the song finds Sumney reimagining the Olympic Hymn, originally composed by Spyridon Samaras and with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Check it out below.
“What does it mean to pose statuesque on top of a marble podium, at a time when statues across the world—long-standing symbols of white supremacy—are literally being toppled?” Sumney said in a statement. “What does it mean to appropriate the Greco-Roman statue, a long-standing placeholder of white male virility and beauty, and replace it with my Black body? A body that has historically been disregarded as far less beautiful and in more recent years, objectified? What does it mean to objectify myself?”
South African artist Dasychira has shared a mesmerizing video for their Malibu-featuring single ‘Swirl’, taken from 2019’s xDream. Watch the Guille Santos-directed visual below.
“The video for Swirl came together when I arrived in LA after a month-long Asia tour with only hours to recover in New York,” Dasychira explained for The FADER. “Reality was virtually impossible to grasp, and before I knew it I was on my way to another world. I felt completely spellbound… We shot scenes in Pasadena, Downtown LA, Gui’s Vine St. apartment and El Matador Beach in Malibu. It was a blessing to work with a crew who imbued this spirit of magic and optimism, and shooting the video was like an opportunity to repaint childhood the way I had wanted.”
They added: “By the end of the shoot it felt like this cathartic rebirth of who I was, after falling “dead” in the scene under the giant rock at El Matador we wrapped, but then I revived and walked in green heels into the ocean and sunlight. We continued shooting and Gui kept directing me to “follow the light,” and in that moment it felt like I had uncovered a world of limitless possibility, emanating from my internal conscience.”
Check out our Artist Spotlight interview with Dasychira here.
The winner of four Academy Awards, La La Land is a musical romance set in Los Angeles, where an aspiring actress (Emma Stone) and a jazz pianist (Ryan Gosling) meet and fall in love. However, their ambitions and budding careers threaten to tear them apart.
The film takes advantage of its setting, making excellent use of lighting and contrast to paint the city of dreams in even brighter colours. The result is a film so visually pleasing that it makes the perfect setting for heartbreak. Here are twelve incredible stills from La La Land.
The current crisis has had a devastating impact on performing arts across the world. However, though theatres remain closed, devoid of performers, audiences, glitz and glamour, that shouldn’t stop us from enjoying the best of theatre, dance and opera. And now, more than ever, it feels important to support the arts in any way possible – if only, to remind all the currently lockdown-bound artists, musicians, dancers and technical crews how much we miss their presence. While these online streaming shows can never accurately capture the true experience of theatre, they do have some advantages – you’re always guaranteed the best seat in the house and it’s often free!
From live-streams of new plays to classics from the archives, this list will (almost certainly) ensure the show goes on…
Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s exceptional, Pulitzer prize-winning and Tony Awards record-setting musical was captured over three nights by six cameras in New York back in 2016. Featuring the original cast (including Miranda in the titular role), this live recording depicts all 160 minutes of the breath-taking Broadway sensation. Originally scheduled for a 2021 cinema release, in light of the impact of the pandemic on the film industry and the performing arts, the film has been fast-tracked on to the Disney+ streaming service, which Miranda said: “felt like the right move after receiving messages every day from folks who had tickets to Hamilton and can’t go because of the pandemic.”
Director Thomas Kail, who also staged the musical captures the spectacle of the show, whilst also offering the one thing that audience’s don’t get at the theatre: an intimacy that allows the spectator to really see the performer’s emotions, sweat and, in the case of Jonathan Groff’s frothing King George III, spit.
Whilst nothing can replicate the magic of being in Richard Rodgers Theatre Where It Happens, as Miranda says this film really does give “everyone the best seat in the house” for one of the most sought-after shows ever.
Hamilton is available to stream on Disney+ from 3 July.
National Theatre at Home: The Deep Blue Sea and Amadeus
Thanks to their extremely successful NT Live programme, The National Theatre was in a fortunate position of having a plethora of recorded shows ready to go as soon as lockdown commenced. Established in 2009, the project involved bringing the best of British theatre to cinema screens and arts institutions in the UK and globally. And now, as a unique concession during quarantine, a number of productions have been made available by The National Theatre to stream for free on YouTube for a week.
The next instalment – The Deep Blue Sea – brings Terence Rattigan’s turbulent portrait of post-war Britain to life. Staged by Carrie Cracknell, this play takes place over one day and tells the tale of Hester Collyer (played by Helen McCrory) who, after a failed suicide attempt, falls into an impassioned affair with a former RAF pilot and consequently faces the breakdown of her marriage to a high court judge. The Deep Blue Sea is available on YouTube from 9-16th July. It’s followed by Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, which after a sell-out run in 2016-17, returned to the Olivier Theatre in 2018 and relates how court composer Antonio Salieri (Lucian Msamati), overcome by irrational jealousy, must decide whether to promote Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s talent or destroy it. Directed by Michael Longhurst and accompanied by the Southbank Sinfonia, this play will be available on YouTube from 16th-23rd July.
Tragically one of the many productions curtailed by the pandemic was Matthew Bourne’s tour of The Red Shoes. His highly commended version of the Powell and Pressburger film was unable to complete its UK tour and subsequently didn’t receive the send-off it rightfully deserved. Although a screening of the production has (thankfully) been rescheduled for September 2020, in the meantime Bourne’s company New Adventures still wanted the ensemble to be able “to say one final farewell, with a flourish”. Subsequently, the company has released a special 12-minute film version online that had been created by the cast of the show during lockdown.
In this charming short, the cast film themselves amongst children’s toys, in living rooms, in gardens and kitchens. Devoid of Lez Brotherston’s exceptional costume design, the company are garbed in football kits, everyday clothes, and wonderful handmade costumes. Whilst the stage, the costuming and overall spectacle isn’t quite the same, the dancer’s unbelievable talent continues to shine, perfectly capturing the skill and enchantment of the original production, despite the lockdown restrictions.
Bourne said that although the film “came out of a sad loss”, it was important to the company “that we celebrated and created a lasting piece that would exist in its own right, out of lockdown”. He added: “We really wanted to capture all of the passion, talent, humour and personalities that make New Adventures so unique.”
In January 2019 it was announced that the original production of Les Misérables would close in July 2019 due to refurbishments on the Sondheim Theatre and move to the adjacent Gielgud Theatre. However, to everyone’s surprise, it was then revealed that the production would take the form of an all-star staged concert that would run for 16 weeks. Starring an array of musical theatre legends (Alfie Boe, Michael Ball, Matt Lucas and Carrie Hope Fletcher to name a few), the staged concert had an incredible run, receiving ecstatic responses from critics and audiences alike. Now a recording of the production is available to download and stream online.
Directed for the screen by Nick Morris, the recording captures the thrills and power of the barricade, whilst also reflecting the more poignant, intimate moments such as Shane Ako’s rendition of ‘On My Own’.
For every digital download purchased (£9.99) The Mackintosh Foundation have announced that they will separately donate £5.00 to be shared amongst the charities: Acting for Others, the Musicians’ Union Coronavirus Hardship Fund and Captain Tom Moore’s Walk for the NHS fund. Producer Cameron Mackintosh said: ‘we hope that fans and everyone who loves the theatre will be reminded of how special a theatrical experience can be, going to the very heart of our British culture’.
The concert is £9.99 to download and is available from Monday 20 April. Click here to download.
Birdsong Online
Following a tour seen by over 250,000 people in over 75 theatres across the UK and Ireland, it has been announced that there will be a fully cast, abridged virtual production of Rachel Wagstaff’s highly acclaimed adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ best-selling novel Birdsong. Produced during lockdown and told using video technology, live performance, sound design and music, this production is certainly an ambitious portrayal of one of the most profound love stories in modern literature. Whilst the cast will be dressed in full costume, the scenes will be digitally designed and accompanied by narration from Faulks, who will also provide a special reading of his novel during the interval.
Discussing the virtual production, Faulks said: “This is a great initiative from The Original Theatre Company and technically very ambitious. The adaptation of the novel to play continues to evolve and I’m confident it has reached its best incarnation yet. Some of the best actors in its long life have signed up. Should be enormous fun.”
Set in pre-war France, Birdsong tells a captivating story of a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford (Tom Kay), who becomes consumed by a tempestuous affair with Isabelle Azaire (Madeline Knight). As the war commences, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and face the perils of the war, whilst clinging onto the memory of Isabelle and the idylls of his former life. The virtual production is in association with The Royal British Legion, who have for the past 100 years, aided all those who have served or are serving, in the British Armed forces and their families.
Rachel Wagstaff said, “I am thrilled to see our show taking life in this new online format. I have really enjoyed re-working it with Sebastian Faulks’s ongoing support and participation and in these challenging times, the story seems to mean more than ever.”
The show will be released online here at 7pm on 16th July and will then be available for a further 72 hours.
Lord Chamberlain’s Men: The Tempest and A Midsummers Night’s Dream
Celebrated for their open-air Shakespeare productions that tour across the UK, the all-male theatre company has unfortunately postponed its production of Macbeth until next year. However, they have instead shared two past productions online: The Tempest (staged in 2018), and A Midsummers Night’s Dream, presented last year to celebrate the company’s 15th birthday and an incredible 425 years since The Lord Chamberlain’s Men were originally created.
They encourage audiences at home to replicate the spirit of the productions – “We invite you to watch our shows in style, whether it is on a picnic blanket in your living room or under the stars wrapped up warm” and encourage spectators to share your experiences on social media using the hashtag #TLCMWatchParty.
Whilst the productions are free to watch online, they ask that if you can donate when watching the production that will ensure they are able to sustain the company through this year and guarantee they are available to deliver their rescheduled production of Macbeth in 2021. In order for them to do so, they have set up a gofundme campaign.
Artistic Director Peter Stickney said: “We know that, however good the online experience might be, it will never replicate gathering together to collectively share the experience of a live production. But we hope that in the meantime our online offerings help to lighten things a little during these times”
Both Productions of The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are free to stream here.
Sir Patrick Stewart’s Daily Sonnets
On March 21, beloved British actor Patrick Stewart shared a reading of William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” on Instagram. The 14-line verse, one of 154 composed by the English poet and playwright, offers a profound contemplation on matters of the heart, stating “Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds, / Or bends with the remover to remove.”
Fans practising social distancing welcomed the recital by the classically trained actor with great enthusiasm, receiving 457,000 views and 3,800 comments within 48 hours. Stewart—recognised for performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company during the 1960s and ‘70s, acting in various Shakespeare classics including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Macbeth and Hamlet or better known to younger audiences as Captain Jean Luc-Picard in the Star Trek franchise and X-Men’s Professor Charles Xavier—decided to embark on a new creative project in response to this rousing reception. Beginning with ‘Sonnet 1’ on March 22, the actor is now performing daily live readings of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
Announcing the undertaking, he said: “When I was a child in the 1940s, my mother would cut up slices of fruit for me (there wasn’t much) and as she put it in front of me she would say, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” How about, “A sonnet a day keeps the doctor away? So… here we go: Sonnet 1.” Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, so that gives us an abundance of material to cover isolation.
Sir Patrick’s Stewart’s Sonnets are posted daily on his twitter (@SirPatStew) and Instagram (SirPatStew)
Patti Smith and Soundwalk Collective have announced a new album called Peradam, the third and final instalment in in their Perfect Vision trilogy, to be released on September 4th via Bella Union. They’ve also shared the title track from the album, which you can listen to below.
Each of Patti Smith and Soundwalk Collective’s collaborative projects so far has focused on the life of a past author, and Peradam continues that pattern. 2016’s Killer Road was a tribute to poet and singer-songwriter Nico, while the first two entries in the Perfect Vision trilogy, 2019’s Peyote Dance and Mummer Love, honoured the work of Antonin Artaud and Rimbaud respectively. The new album was inspired by René Daumal, the French metaphysical novelist best known for his posthumously published 1952 novel Mount Analogue. The new track includes direct quotes from the book, with Smith repeating the line “I will not speak of the mountain” against a backdrop of different types of percussion and nature sounds, which were recorded at various Himalayan mountains in India and Nepal.
Peradam, which is available to pre-order now, is set to feature appearances from Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anoushka Shankar, and Tenzin Choegyal.
Bill Callahan has released the third single from his upcoming album Gold Record, titled ’35’. Listen to it below.
“It’s nice to know that my life had been lived before,” Callahan laments in the opening verse, “But I can’t see myself in the books that I read anymore.”
‘35’ follows the previously released ‘Another Song’ and ‘Pigeons’. Gold Record, which marks the singer-songwriter’s seventh studio album under his own name, comes out September 4 via Drag City. Callahan has promised to share a new song from the album every Monday up until its release.
In a statement, author Patty Yumi Cottrell said of the new song (via Pitchfork): “Bill Callahan is a friend to everyone. A conjurer of mortal joy, he shows us how a song can be a mirror, a map of encounter, a shrine to solitude. We were 35 once, all of us, reading books by Herman Melville, David Berman, William Vollman (so many -man/men!), hoping they would tell us how to live or at least why. Why should we live?”
They continued: “Listening to Bill’s new song “35” I take a walk with a friend to the edge of the future where there’s precision in pathos and the light out is pink like berries (not the frozen yogurt franchise). Bill’s voice, clarion and wise, reminds me to pay attention and to be more careful with others because most of us are gentle, small, and desiring things for ourselves. We might not notice this ever. It’s OK to get lost, to hang out in the murk, Bill reassures us. We’re lucky to have a guide. The moon is over my shoulder like a lantern on the path back, clearing.”
