Wynter’s dirty little secret

For an artist who’s only just released her debut single, Wynter Gordon has an impressive pop pedigree. The 25-year-old New Yorker has spent the past five years working both behind the scenes of the music industry (as a songwriter for the likes of Mary J. Blige and Jennifer Lopez) alongside brief stints in the spotlight (singing the hook on Flo Rida’s smash single Sugar; collaborating with David Guetta on Eastern-tinged club hit Toyfriend).

Now she’s ready to stand on her own two feet with Dirty Talk, a sexed-up dance track that came about as the result of an unconventional writing session.

“Artists all get to that point where they go ‘whatever’, when they’re so frustrated and tired with the creative process,” the stunning singer told the Star Observer during a recent Australian visit.

“I got to that point just before I wrote Dirty Talk. I had the hook in my head, then Nicole (Morier, co-writer) and I started Googling sexy words to fill in the lyrics — we spent a whole writing session looking at porn sites. I’m a little ashamed.”

This and her other recent singles — the lush Freemasons collaboration Dreamer included — mark a noticeable shift in genre from the first song that drew Gordon widespread buzz. Leaked onto the internet several years ago, Surveillance was a propulsive Timbaland-like production which suggested its singer would be the next big thing in R&B, not dance-pop.

“When I write songs, it’s always from a writer’s standpoint. I’m not thinking about genre, so I can really come up with anything,” Gordon said.

“Surveillance came from a time when there was no real direction, we were just trying things out. But it never got a release, which is a shame because it’s such a cool song.

“I have thousands of songs. Will they all get released? Realistically, no. I like to listen to them all turned up on my iPod really loud, just so people on the street can hear them.”

Now that she’s found her sound, Gordon has a batch of recently-recorded songs she’s ready to unleash upon the world in the form of a debut album, With The Music I Die, to be released next year. It’ll have a decidedly Aussie flavour, too — future single Drunk On Your Love was penned with Melbourne-born songwriting twins Mim and Liv Nervo, and she’s worked with Nick Littlemore of Empire of the Sun on two tracks.

“We say (the album’s) coming in March, but I’m actually hoping it comes later. I want to build my fanbase — you can have one hit, but no-one really knows who you are. And I want people to know who I am before my album’s out …travel with me, be my friend, hold hands,” she said.

“Dirty Talk is really fun and perverted, but it’s just one little piece of the album. The album’s not so sugary and candy: it’s classic dance.”

info: Dirty Talk (Warner) out now on iTunes.