Three years after
Gordi's full-length debut,
Reservoir, landed in the Top 20 in her native Australia, songwriter
Sophie Payten returns with a more personal follow-up,
Our Two Skins. It was informed by a series of major life events that included coming to terms with her sexual identity, ending a relationship, and even finishing her years-long studies to become a doctor. Some of the related feelings of isolation -- especially regarding identity -- led her to track the album in a cabin with no phone reception, Wi-Fi, or modern plumbing at her parents' farm in her remote hometown. Not entirely self-recorded, however, she did collaborate with co-producers
Chris Messina (
Bon Iver,
Big Red Machine) and
Zach Hanson (
Bon Iver,
Hand Habits). Opening song "Aeroplane Bathroom" helps frame
Our Two Skins as a breakdown of sorts, with closer "Free Association" ending with a corresponding creak and slammed bathroom door. After the field recording, "Aeroplane Bathroom" starts with minimal piano and the fragilely delivered line "Do you see yourself unravelling?" The song continues in kind, seeming to function as a six-minute guide into this album's more-intimate environment. Warbled, atmospheric electronics eventually expand the sound design, as do subsequent tracks, like the bright, harmonic full-band pop of second track "Unready" and the lush, shimmery "Limits," whose arrangement includes scuttling electronic drums. The sparer tracks are where
Gordi really excels, though, such as on the impassioned "Radiator," whose simple keyboard accompaniment draws focus to her vulnerable, almost
Phoebe Bridgers-like vocal performance of lyrics about loving from afar. Songs like that one, the opener, and "Look Like You" stand in contrast to poppier entries including "Limits" and "Sandwiches," a toe-tapping, alt-rock-tinged tribute to her grandmother, that keep the album in a melancholy zone but temporarily debark the plane.