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Gordi's Newest Single, 'Heaven I Know,' References The Deep Layering Of Bon Iver

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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Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)