Opening not with a bang but with a murmur, the new offering from Melbourne‘s Courtney Barnett explores the depths of her thoughts and musings, paired with her classic grunge-stained alt-rock and Aussie twang. For Tell Me How You Really Feel, Barnett wades through issues about burning out, internet abuse, and gendered assault in an album that is best absorbed as a whole as its greater than the sum of its parts in most respects.
Thematically and structurally a step away from her debut, Sometimes I Sit And Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, this sophomore album from Barnett revisits thoughtful guitar-leaden rock with purpose and meaning, which means that you’ll end up with a catchy hook weeviled into your brain, looping flooring lyrics threaded together with a damning Margaret Atwood quote about walking through parks at night with your keys between your fingers in the chance you might need to defend yourself.
I wanna walk through the park in the dark
Men are scared that women will laugh at themI wanna walk through the park in the dark
Women are scared that men will kill them
And that’s exactly what this album is – it’s Barnett standing strong in the face of obstacles both internal and from the world, with keys between her fingers, ready to go. And watch what you say about Courtney Barnett, she might just turn your comments into lyrics for her next record.
Through the catchiness of riffs blended with short, sharp, agitated tracks like ‘I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch’ Barnett drives her points home with more ferocity and bite than we’ve seen from her previously, as well as leaning into the subtleties of being quiet and sombre.
Now that the album’s been out in the world for a few days, so the wider music community have had their chance to have a listen and put together their thoughts on the record.
y’all think courtney barnett gets tired of putting out records that don’t have a single bad song?
— Steve Sladkowski (@sladkow) May 21, 2018
Folks, the new Courtney Barnett album absolutely slaps.
— k. (@kdiff77) May 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/mcgingly/status/999051127441240066
It’s a pretty overwhelmingly positive reaction, and deservingly so. Courtney’s ability to move from an avid avant gardener in her Blunnies unearthing catchy tracks to a serious, mature musician maintaining and nurturing a plethora of plants, ranging from the perfectly-manicured through to the unruly creepers.
Look, I’m a sucker for a good record that I can put on and work away to, and Tell Me How You Really Feel is perfect for that – I’ve been writing to it for the past couple of weeks. So I’m gunna give ‘er a 4 out of 5. Fight me.
https://youtu.be/iQVvSdymxmQ
