With the release of 2012’s I’ve Got a Friend Called Emily Farris EP and 2013’s How to Carve a Carrot Into a Rose, Melbourne-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Courtney Barnett received critical acclaim from outlets across North America, the UK and Australia for work that paired witty and rambling conversational-like lyrics delivered with an ironic deadpan paired with enormous, power chord-driven arrangements.
While those successes may have seemed to come about overnight, they actually didn’t; Barnett carved out a reputation for being one of Melbourne’s best guitarists, which was cemented with a stint in Dandy Warhols’ Brent DeBoer’s side project Immigrant Union and a guest spot on on Jen Cloher‘s third album, In Blood Memory.
Barnett’s full-length debut, 2016’s Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit, which featured “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party” and the T. Rex-like “Elevator Operator was released to critical praise across the world. The acclaimed Aussie artist collaborated with Kurt Vile on 2017’s critically and commercially successful Lotta See Lice, which landed at #5 on the Aussie charts, #11 on the British charts and #51 on the American charts.
Her sophomore solo album, 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel, which featured the motorik groove-driven “City Looks Pretty” continued an enviable run of critical and commercial success. Barnett supported Tell Me How You Really Feel with a three month world tour that included some of her biggest tour steps in Australia at the time.
Barnett’s Stella Mozgawa co-produced third album Things Take Time, Take Time was released earlier this year through Mom + Pop Music and Marathon Artists. Centered around intimately detailed songwriting, Things Take Time, Take Time finds the acclaimed Aussie crafting a journey through heartbreak, recovery and all the soft moments in between that speak to the feelings and experiences that are innately human.
Now if you’ve been frequenting this site over the course of this year, you may recall that I’ve written about “Before You Gotta Go,” a lovely ballad that’s one-part frustrated kiss-off and one-part gracious send-off rooted in bittersweet, lived-in experience: the hope that the last words between you and a soon to be former lover, won’t be unkind.
Along with an extensive North American tour, Barnett has made the rounds of the late night, Stateside talk show circuit. Earlier this year, Barnett played the introspective garage rocker “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight,” an empathetic portrayal of the desperate self-doubt and awkwardness of a crush that’s more than likely equally requited yet not exactly confirmed or expressed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Barnett was recently on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where the acclaimed Aussie singer/songwriter and her backing band played a loose and jammy rendition of garage rock anthem “Turning Green,” complete with Barnett playing a roaring solo.
