Courtney Barnett | PREVIEW

Some time ago a friend played me a slightly unusual music video with a girl dressed as a clown who wandered around receiving an outpouring of scorn, muggings and dissatisfaction from those she failed to entertain. The guitars squished over the background with a grunge era laziness as her voice contained an unmistaken angst kept as the back of her heart as the fumes from it vented out with covertly intricate, witty and sharp lyrics.

The song was ‘Pedestrian at Best’ by Courtney Barnett who this year released her debut album ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’. Listening to the track was intriguing enough for me to dip into what turned out to be a significant and varied combination of efforts to date. With a few EP’s already behind her I discovered tracks with a refreshing frankness to them interwoven with numerous pithy turns of phrase, all delivered with a back footed leisurely defiance.

Listening to the album in full shows it to be a mature and full spectrum of tunes which not only reflect and induce a range of emotion but which also display her musical credibility. Much more than just another foot stamping three chord Kills wannabe. Beneath the well placed and neat little hooks are layers of music with rock, country and psyche influences. In amongst the lacklustre grunge protests are genuinely beautiful heartfelt ballads which sit comfortably beside each other.

She is fast gaining notoriety since outgrowing Melbourne, Australia and on 4th December will be arriving at O2 Academy in Bristol. This is an artist on a steep climb upwards to the height of her powers and will doubtlessly put on a an energetic and memorable performance.

Check out ‘Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party’ right here: