I’m always listening to music. Most of the time, that’s the great old classics from the past. But I’m also one who will listen to a sea of new music to find one artist or band that will make me stop and listen harder. Today, I have one of those. Her name is Courtney Barnett.
Courtney Barnett is one busy girl. With a wave of classic influence, she has taken a punkish, Patti Smith/Lou Reed-like attitude into her excellent collection of songs. Trust me. You’ll hear Lou Reed influence in a few of her songs (like “Dead Fox” (video below), which reminds of “Sweet Jane”). I really like her overall presentation. At times straight ahead NYC art-rock, and at times, a flavor of Folk with a dash of Country.
Courtney Barnett hails from Australia, but her prowess as a singer-songwriter of note has gained her attention from a lot of the bigger music magazines including Rolling Stone (I know, I know), online music sites like Stereogum, and NYC’s print/web content classic, The Village Voice. Her new album, the heady-titled, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit was released in March of 2015, and has already shot up plenty of charts including Billboard, peaking at number one in several categories (Folk Albums, Independent Albums, Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums), and Number 20 in the Billboard Top 100, where she peaked at 20. That’s just the US. She has shown similar strong numbers around the world.
While I understand the style of Courtney Barnett won’t be for everyone, I do suggest that you take a few minutes and listen to the provided YouTube video of one of her songs from the new album.
I hope you enjoy her as much as I have been.