I may have mentioned once or twice that November is Australian Music month. Buying a record, a CD, a T-shirt or a ticket is the best way you can help local musos, who have done it very tough in the past few years.
Luckily for us, as restrictions ease, the live shows are coming back and there’s been lots of great music released this month.
Last Friday, Courtney Barnett released her third album “Things Take Time, Take Time”.
I love Courtney. Deep down, I want to be just like her when I grow up (or grow young again).
She’s cool, and kind and has an excellent haircut. She’s also currently staying at the Joshua Tree, which makes me extremely envious. She writes great songs, plays a blistering guitar and on stage looks like she’s having the best time you can have without doing something illegal.
To say her vocal delivery is deadpan would understate it.
In the past, her lyrics have radiated an Australian-ness devoid of jingoism and cliche, conjuring up visions of Melbourne streets and hot summers. She even name checked Phillip Island on her 2015 album “Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit”.
“I was walking down Sunset Strip, Phillip Island, not Los Angeles. Got me some hot chips and a cold drink. Took a sandy seat on the shore …”
But back to the present.
This album, recorded during lockdown is more introspective than her previous albums and possibly more universal. The hushed tones were due in part to recording in an apartment … “It was kind of quiet because I didn’t want angry neighbours,” she said in one interview.
She also recorded it alone, without her usual band.
But there’s something calming and comforting in the quiet repetition and drum machine loops.
And plenty of people are taking comfort. The two singles released before the album came out last Friday – “Rae Street” and “Before you gotta go” have racked up over four and a half million plays on Spotify.
Maybe it’s because her vocal delivery teeters on the edge of spoken word that the album feels like a conversation with a friend. And like the rest of us, she’s wrestling with the state of the world, how to stay connected with friends, and maybe even fall in love.
“Every morning I’m rising with you on my mind,” she whispered.
Me too. I’ve got those songs stuck in my brain.
milk.milkrecords.com.au/courtney-barnett
Don’t forget, this Friday is AusMusic T-shirt Day, where you get to wear your favourite T-shirt and raise money to help support those in the music industry who are doing it tough. Find out more at www.ausmusictshirtday.org.au
