A product of the not-so-underground, genre-bending melting pot that is Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Don Glori (AKA Gordon Li) prepares to unleash his forthcoming album ‘Don’t Forget To Have Fun’ via DeepMatter Records.

Following the release of his much-heralded 2022 LP ‘Welcome’, a subsequent sweep of the Australian festival circuit and an EU / UK tour, Don found himself straight back in the studio but coming up short this time around. He explains: “Don't Forget To Have Fun was initially recorded in mid-2022 after several months touring my first album Welcome and at a semi-tumultuous time in my life. Add in a tough 3 days in the studio - broken equipment, illness, burnout from the touring, 40-degree Australian summer heat, a bike accident, and I was left finding it quite hard to enjoy the music. All these things combined made me decide to put the DFTHF session recordings on ice indefinitely.”

Following his relocation to London, UK in 2023, Don managed to tap into a potent creative current, by taking himself to a place of discomfort, and taking his creative back to basics - allowing additional room for experimentation. He says “I revisited the album after moving to London in May 2023, I was living in a tiny room with barely any equipment and my only income was from the slight bit of touring I was doing which was all going towards rent and groceries. It was a good opportunity to redefine the songs from the DFTHF sessions and inject some new life into them. I had just finished touring Europe, moved to a new city, didn’t know anyone, and had all the free time in the world to experiment with wacky, zany ideas. In the end, I re-recorded a lot of the parts on the record in the kitchen of my Whitechapel flat while my housemates were at work. (You can hear the ambulances in the background when you isolate some of the tracks)”.

This invigorating approach helped distill the initial album sketches into a compelling and intoxicating listening experience - with all tracks sharing similar subtle themes and commonalities running throughout. Album opener ‘Pause’ pairs psychedelic influences with a cyclic loping groove and focuses on recognising a safe space that can act as a refuge. Taking inspiration from Steely Dan, Brian Bennett & Azymuth, ‘Emerald’ channels Jazz rock, 70's LA studio energy, with the faster funk sections featuring an unruly amount of mouth percussion, synth lead lines, and vocal melodies that weave in and around the tight horn arrangements. ‘All Seeds’ is a heady blend of samba and Brazilian street soul, with field recordings of Don’s old house in Melbourne providing additional seasoning. ‘First Touch’ is a downtempo 80’s boogie-infused gem, keeping proceedings nice and sleazy. The final three movements move through one fluid composition, charting the disorientating course of a fever dream, through beguiling astral travels, unexplainable occurrences, and transcendent moments.

On the album’s title, Don explains: ‘The name Don't Forget To Have Fun is a nice reminder to myself about the journey of the album. How you can change the narrative by keeping a positive attitude, trusting the process and continually experimenting.’ A true work of art, traversing jazz, funk, soul, RnB, samba and beyond, this record is hard to describe, but even harder to forget.

Written, produced, composed, and performed by Gordon Li.
Mixed by Lewis Moody & Gordon Li
Mastered by Mo Hausler
Gordon Li - Bass Guitar, Double Bass, Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizers, Percussion, Guitar, Vocals
Tim Cox - Drums
Robyn Cummins - Congas, Bongos, Percussion
Lachlan Thompson - Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Selene Messinis - Keyboard, Piano, Synthesizers
Josh Bennier - Trombone
Lewis Moody - Synthesizers (track 3 & 5)
Isabella Lauritz - Backing Vocal (track 3)
Hannah Mckittrick - Vocals (track 4, 5, 6)
Bianca Kyriacou - Vocals (track 4, 5, 6)