In the hands of Courtney Barnett, fragments of everyday life become rich and riveting. A deft lyricist and virtuosic guitarist, she is an emblem of millennial wit and one of Australia’s most successful musical exports.
Based for much of her adult life in Melbourne, Barnett first found critical acclaim with 2013’s The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas, and broke into the mainstream in 2015 with her debut album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. Garnering a coveted Best New Artist Grammy nomination and numerous other accolades, the album stands as a generational classic. Barnett followed her debut with 2017’s Lotta Sea Lice, an acclaimed collaborative record with Kurt Vile, and eschewed the vignettes of her early records on 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel, her humid, political sophomore record, which featured the Margaret Atwood-invoking single “Nameless, Faceless”. In 2021, she released Things Take Time, Take Time, a remarkable artistic step forward.
A new and gorgeous chapter from Courtney Barnett is here with the release of her 2023 instrumental album End of the Day (music from the film Anonymous Club). Comprised of 17 improvisations that were originally recorded in 2021 as part of the score to the film Anonymous Club, Barnett returned to these tracks a year later, remixing, re-ordering and reframing them into a seamless meditative collage.
End Of The Day is a meditative, slow-burning and beautiful record, prioritising atmosphere, tone and texture over traditional song structures and melodic hooks. It’s a fearless and stunning turn for an artist who built her formidable reputation through profound lyricism and riff-based fireworks.
Barnett is a powerhouse live act, playing slots at festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Governors Ball, Primavera, and Lollapalooza.
