A Chat with Gab Gordon (20.05.26)
Rising songstress Gab Gordon’s latest single ‘Slowburn’ is a lush, atmospheric indie-pop track that feels made for late-night drives and quiet moments of reflection. Featured on her EP, The Pretty Bazaar, it unfolds slowly, prioritising mood and emotional space over immediate impact. Built on layered synths and nostalgic percussion, the production draws from both 80s-inspired pop and contemporary alt minimalism, creating a cinematic yet restrained soundscape. We chat with Gab Gordon about all things music below.
OSR: ‘Slowburn’ feels incredibly atmospheric and emotionally restrained. What was the initial spark or feeling that inspired the song?
Gab Gordon: The spark came from a relationship in my life that existed somewhere between friendship and possibility. We had known each other for years, but timing and circumstance always seemed to keep things suspended between the surface. ‘Slowburn’ really grew from reflecting on the quiet tension that can exist within certain connections over time. It made me think about how relationships can gradually take on a different emotional meaning. The song became an exploration of emotional tension and romantic restraint, the kind that gradually builds until it becomes impossible to ignore. I wanted it to feel intimate, cinematic, and suspended somewhere between memory and imagination.
OSR: The single captures romantic tension in a very cinematic way. Were there any films, visual aesthetics, or specific memories influencing the mood of the track?
Gab Gordon: Absolutely. Cinema has always influenced the way I experience emotion and storytelling. I’m drawn to everything from Hitchcock films to John Hughes movies to 90s rom coms. I think film has a way of romanticizing introspection, slowing moments down enough for you to really sit inside them. That perspective naturally finds its way into my music and visuals. I’m very interested in atmosphere, tension, and memory. I wanted ‘Slowburn’ to feel less like a straightforward narrative and more like a scene from a film someone keeps replaying in their head.
OSR: You’ve described your songwriting process as instinctive and melody-driven. How did ‘Slowburn’ first come together creatively?
Gab Gordon: Most of my songs begin melodically before anything else. I’ll hear fragments of production or melodies in my head first, usually without lyrics attached to them yet. With ‘Slowburn’, the chorus arrived almost all at once. I recorded the melody immediately and built the emotional world of the song around that initial feeling. The lyrics came later through reflection. Once I understood what the song was actually trying to say emotionally, the production developed very naturally around it.
OSR: Your production style blends dream pop textures with nostalgic 80s-inspired sounds. What drew you toward that sonic palette for this release?
Gab Gordon: I’ve always been drawn to music and film that feel immersive and emotionally transportive, and I think a lot of that exists within 80s culture. There’s a certain romanticism in those textures, the synth, the atmosphere, the sense of scale that pairs so nicely with dream pop. For ‘Slowburn’, I wanted the production to feel hazy and cinematic, almost like a late-night memory that’s become slightly distorted over time.
OSR: You wrote, produced, performed, mixed, and mastered ‘Slowburn’ yourself. What challenges, or freedoms, come with maintaining that level of creative control?
Gab Gordon: There are definitely challenges. Every part of the process requires a different state of mind, and developing confidence across all of them takes time. I think most musicians know the feeling of hearing something perfectly in your head but struggling to make it exist in reality. The freedom comes from being able to chase that vision without compromise. At the same time, there’s something incredibly rewarding about building an entire emotional world from a single idea and seeing it through from beginning to end.
OSR: There’s a strong sense of patience in the song, especially compared to a lot of modern pop music. Was emotional restraint something you consciously wanted to explore?
Gab Gordon: I think the song naturally demanded restraint. ‘Slowburn’ was never meant to feel explosive; it was meant to linger. I’m often more interested in tension than release. Sometimes the quietest emotions end up carrying the most weight because they remain unresolved. I wanted the song to feel intimate and suspended in time rather than overly immediate.
OSR: How do you know when a song’s atmosphere is ‘complete’? Is there a moment during production where everything suddenly clicks into place?
Gab Gordon: There’s usually a moment where the emotional energy of the song finally matches the feeling it carried when I first perceived it. That’s when I know it’s complete. Sometimes I can have the exact melody played by the exact instrument I originally imagined, but emotionally it still isn’t communicating what it needs to. The smallest production decisions can completely change the emotional weight of a track. Most of my songs begin as fragments of atmosphere before they fully exist in reality, so the process becomes about translating that original feeling as accurately as possible through production, melody, and texture. Once everything begins communicating the same emotional language, the song suddenly clicks into place for me.
OSR: Your music feels deeply visual as well as sonic. How important is imagery and aesthetic world-building to your creative process?
Gab Gordon: It’s extremely important to me. I think music becomes more immersive when it exists within a fully realized visual world. I grew up surrounded by creativity, music, fashion, photography, and art, so I’ve always viewed sound and imagery as connected languages rather than separate ones. Aesthetic world-building allows me to create atmosphere beyond the music itself. It turns songs into places people can emotionally step into.
OSR: The Pretty Bazaar has a very cohesive emotional tone. Did you approach the EP as one connected artistic experience from the beginning?
Gab Gordon: Yes, very intentionally. I wanted the project to feel emotionally cohesive from the start. Each song represents a different emotional perspective, but they all exist within the same atmosphere and world. I was very conscious of sequencing, sonic textures, and lyrical themes while building this EP.
OSR: What do you hope listeners feel, or maybe even confront emotionally, while listening to ‘Slowburn’?
Gab Gordon: I hope listeners recognize themselves somewhere within it. ‘Slowburn’ explores emotional ambiguity, timing, and the tension between what’s expressed and what still remains unspoken. Those are experiences most people encounter at some point, even if they rarely articulate them. More than anything, I wanted the song to feel emotionally honest.
Many thanks to Gab Gordon for speaking with us. Find out more about Gab Gordon on her official website, Instagram, and Spotify.
