Courtney Barnett is in her late-30s, over a decade into an incredibly successful music career, and past the point of being Australia's next big thing: she arrived a while ago.
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she → arrive → point
Where some artists fear maturity might dull their edge, Barnett recognises how experience works in her favour.
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experience → fear → favour
While making her latest album, Creature Of Habit, disjointed recording sessions and writer's block had the singer-songwriter feeling a little unstable.
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songwriter → make → Habit
"There were moments where I thought it would never get finished," she says.
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she → be → ?
"It kind of comes in waves.
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It → come → waves
I think that's just the creative process for me: it's ups and downs.
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it → think → me
I said to myself, 'I've been here before.
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I → say → myself
I've made a few albums, and I've felt this feeling.
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I → make → feeling
I'm just going to trust that hopefully I'll pass whatever the difficult moment is and just get on with it.'
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moment → go → it
"
Old habits die
Spoiler: it did pass, resulting in yet another remarkable collection of songs in which Barnett captures our insecurities and reflects them with startling clarity.
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Barnett → die → clarity
The details in a Courtney Barnett song often belong to her, but the feelings somehow belong to everybody.
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feelings → belong → everybody
"I know I got a sensitive heart, I'm always picking it apart when I throw it to the vultures.
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I → know → vultures
They don't want it either, probably too sincere," she sings on Sugar Plum, a highlight from Creature Of Habit.
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she → want → Habit
Barnett won audiences over from the outset with sharply observed stories about the messy process of trying to figure out life.
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Barnett → win → life
Her songs often felt intensely personal, but left enough room for listeners to find themselves inside them.
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listeners → feel → them
When the young, shy artist was thrust into the spotlight following the success of her early EPs, those innermost thoughts suddenly became open to scrutiny.
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thoughts → thrust → scrutiny
Seeing her work picked apart by strangers was unsettling.
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work → see → strangers
"It kind of adds up, time and experience and all those things …
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It → add → time
I just feel a little more comfortable doing what I do," Barnett says about her current standing.
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Barnett → feel → standing
While she feels the impact of years in the game, she still finds it a challenge to pinpoint what exactly has changed.
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what → feel → game
"I feel like I've learned a lot a lot of small but important lessons, but sometimes I don't quite know how to articulate them.
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I → feel → them
One of them is just learning how to trust myself a bit more.
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One → learn → myself
"In the past, I would often spiral into this self-doubt, which just doesn't feel very productive or enjoyable.
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which → spiral → doubt
"Even just facing a difficult moment and just working through it, something that sounds kind of simple; it was hard to trust in that process.
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it → face → process
"Sometimes you got to fake it till you make it.
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you → got → it
You've got to convince yourself that you 100 per cent know what you're doing.
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you → get → what
Start somewhere
While experience helped, Barnett also benefited from coming back to her discipline with fresh eyes.
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Barnett → start → eyes
Making the 2023 instrumental album End of the Day — the soundtrack to the Anonymous Club documentary about her life on the road — gave her a chance to work in a different realm.
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album → make → realm
"When I started working on it, I was just kind of learning how to write again because I hadn't written a song for a little while," she says.
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she → start → while
"So, it felt in a way that I was kind of beginning again.
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I → feel → way
I was doing a lot of free writing, trying not to go into writing with any kind of intention or idea.
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I → do → intention
I was kind of just trying to understand what was rattling around in my head as unfiltered as humanly possible.
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what → try → head
"I guess a lot of my writing is kind of like that.
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lot → guess → that
Then it shows me something and then I kind of piece a narrative or an idea together.
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I → show → narrative
I guess it was just a thing circling in my head.
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it → guess → head
Condensing swirling thoughts into compact and compelling cuts of relatable indie rock is not easy on a technical level.
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Condensing → condense → level
Making sense of that flood of thoughts can be just as challenging.
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Making → make → thoughts
What's worse, there's not really anywhere to hide when you're bleeding onto the page.
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you → be → page
"It can be confronting, because you're face to face with yourself and holding a mirror up to yourself and sometimes you see things that you don't like," Barnett says.
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Barnett → hold → that
"I was exploring parts of my personality or just parts of my world or life.
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I → explore → world
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia