Artist Spotlights: Growing Up with Margot Gordinier
Margot Gordinier splices elements of bedroom pop, shoegaze, and folk to produce a contemplative atmosphere where listeners can reflect on their relationships and habits.
Artist Spotlights introduces you to artists that may not be on your radar yet, but should be. With recently cancelled tours and income loss for small artists, there’s no time like the present to find new talent to support.
Written by Kendel Jones
Photo courtesy of Ella Roth
Recommended If You Like: Clairo, Nick Drake, Big Thief
Margot Gordinier, like many of us, is new at Doom University. She’s a freshman at Vassar College, which she “worked her (V)ass off” to get into. A New York native, Gordinier studies the Classics and radiates cool-girl energy, as proven by her whimsical yet saturated Instagram aesthetic. Sincere guitar covers of Nick Drake, The Smiths, and Big Thief are spread across her feed as clear inspirations of her production style. Folds of violin, vocal harmonies, and electric guitar are the backbone of most tracks she produces. Gordinier's music sounds like walking to a cafe in autumn, making a serious pro-con list, or floating in still water.
During her sophomore year of high school, Gordinier decided to mesh her guitar and piano skills with a running ‘angsty poems’ note in her phone. Her first album, Little Misrecorded (available on Bandcamp), is a compilation of songs written over a lonely high school summer. While Gordinier’s friends were travelling or becoming camp girls, she became fluent in Soundtrap, Spotify's version of GarageBand. Little Misrecorded features mostly covers and teenage laments. A cover of “Untitled” by Rex Orange County captures listeners with its intimate low-fi quality, and Gordinier’s metallic soprano voice. Equally memorable is “timothée,” an ode to heartthrob Timothée Chalamet. Since her debut in 2018, Gordinier has graduated from Soundtrap to Logic, a more advanced production software. She also graduated from high school. This sprouting of self and software resulted in a project of equal maturity: her first EP.
Maladaptive Daydream, Gordinier's latest release, is a record for the emerging adult. In an interview with The Miscellany News, a student publication, the singer ciphers the EP, saying “It’s definitely a reflection on how I get so obsessed with things that are just trivial, and think about them so much that it’s harmful to me.” Gordinier and her music mature in tandem. Ballads once based around celebrity crushes are now cryptically written about nameless lovers — at least the idea of them. Her production has cultured to include more layers, instruments, and musicians, angelically coating each track. A prime example, “Debt,” outlines the nature of a transactional relationship (“You can take my brain, though I'm already insane / And I know that I owe it all to you”). Rhythmic vocals and an emollient slide guitar create an atmosphere that is both surreal and intense, capturing how it feels to be with someone who’s only interested in what they can personally glean from the relationship.
The opening track, “Oxymoron,” narrates the melodrama of a breakup. The verses are observant, each a work of flash fiction. A determined electric guitar sets the ideal tempo for city street walking or people watching. Even in the deepest and dreamiest of distractions, reminders of an ex remain (“The men all look like you / The women also sort of do / I grab a bite to eat”). The verses purposely distract Gordinier from her need to process the repetitive emotions driving each chorus (“You are nothing to me / You are my everything”). By the outro, Gordinier has accepted the breakup, though she still “cannot help but cry.”
“Daydream in The Fairest Weather” is a word of caution over the harmful effects of daydreaming. With a metronomic cowbell and bright guitar chords, the feeling of naivety is created. What could possibly be harmful about escaping to a world where only you and your crush exist? Daydreaming or fixating on someone feels like connection in the moment, but can ultimately produce a one-sided relationship. Gordinier discloses how this sense of connection without commitment can be tempting. Swelling violins in the chorus communicate the effortless reality that only a parasocial relationship can provide (“I loved you more when you had no face / When you were just my daydream”). The outro comes as a shock after a fake ending, as unrecognizable whispers serenade a newly restless strum pattern. The key has changed, and builds to a regretfully-charged combustion.
In “Maladaptive,” Gordinier finds magical realism inside herself as buttery background “oohs” rouse an already symphonic violin and piano combination. In “Lego,” the momentum of a ride cymbal builds and reflects the thrill of a new relationship, while Gordinier posits kissing a woman as the solution to her problems. She ebbs in and out of head voice with ease, but sometimes with a purposeful push. The final track, “I just Want to Meet your Mother,” is about wanting to be prioritized by someone without being in love with them. With soft vocal harmonies and a guitar emphasis, this track is Gornier's most folk adjacent. These songs demonstrate her ability to be soberly self aware.
The motifs in Gordnier's recent music are prolific, considering the apocalyptic moment we’re in. America is a fierce example of how collective daydreaming can steer society in a maladaptive direction. Science and technology are awakening people to the reality of climate change, the pandemic, and racial injustice. Denying these issues on a governmental and individual level is causing destruction in communities.
In the same way Gordinier clarifies her personal priorities and values in this EP, 2020 has forced similar clarifications in Americans. Pockets of America are acknowledging their privilege and fighting for equality by protesting, donating to racial justice organizations, and voting.
Spurred by the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Gordinier defines her priorities once again. Earlier this year, she announced all purchases from her Bandcamp will be donated monthly to Color of Change, a national racial justice organization. "We must continue consuming antiracist content, donating, and speaking up in our own lives. Until justice is real," her Instagram post said. Gordinier has come a long way since her first release. Her maturity rings through each lyric, production choice, and contribution to society as an artist citizen.