21st Century Music: Courtney Barnett
21st Century Music are profiles focused on artists that have released all their music since the year 2000. These are intended to highlight newer acts that may be of interest to readers that enjoy the older music that is the focus of Ceremony. This profile was originally published in 2018 and updated\rewritten in 2025.
When I first heard “Avant Gardener” on my monthly compilation from CMJ magazine it jumped out as one of the more unique sounding songs I’d heard in awhile. However, in these days of voluminous music at our disposal it took a bit of time for me to check out more of Courtney Barnett’s music. Once I did, I quickly realized that tune was not a one-off, and this was an exciting and intriguing artist worth exploring. I have not regretted the journey one bit as she has built a successful career in the intervening years.
Born in Sydney, Australia, Courtney’s career started in bands around Melbourne, inspired by artists such as Paul Kelly. Over 2010 and 2011 she played in the bands, Rapid Transit, Olivettes, and then Immigrant Union, which was an alt-country act. Courtney’s first solo release was the EP, I’ve Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris, released in April 2012. It was issued via Milk! Records, a label she created with her romantic partner, Jen Cloher. The lead track, “Lance Jr.” revealed her early, jangly, indie rock sound. She hadn’t yet locked into the groove that would shortly launch her.
That groove started with the release of the single, “History Eraser,” in late 2012 as part of a double A-side single with Cloher’s, “Mount Beauty”. In this we could hear her deadpan delivery, narrative, and wry humour mixed with a catchy, power-pop sound – a recipe that would prove effective in building her reputation.
Things picked up in 2013 with the release of her second EP, How to Carve A Carrot into A Rose, which included “History Eraser” and “Avant Gardener.” The quality and attention of these songs started building attention for Courtney both in Australia and abroad. “Avant Gardener” had all the components of “History Eraser” but wrapped in a better package. Catchy as hell, paced to a restrained mid-tempo and with her sardonic delivery, the song was a complete earworm.
She played guitar and sang on Cloher’s May 2013 LP, In Blood Memory, before releasing in the fall a compilation of the first two EPs, The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas. This helped distribute her music internationally and paved the way for her first LP in the spring of 2015, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. Packed with tight, hook-filled, punky tunes that continued with her guitar and slacker vocal style the album was a delight from start to finish and one of the best releases of the decade. Critically acclaimed, it reached the Australian top ten and top twenty in the US and UK. Courtney was a rising concern.
My photo of Courtney performing with Kurt Vile at Massey Hall. The drummer in the background is Stella Mozgawa from the band, Warpaint.
After a couple of non-album singles in 2016, including the country-tinged, “Three Packs a Day,” the next LP was a collaboration with ex-War on Drugs and now solo artist, Kurt Vile. A better combination could not be found, as the American guitarist and singer, with a modern Neil Young vibe, perfectly complemented Barnett’s style. The album, Lotta Sea Lice, was released in late 2017. It leaned into the down-tempo, jangly styles of the two artists, but still held the intriguing phrasing and layered compositions in which both were adept. Now fully on the Barnett bandwagon, I saw her and Vile perform at Massey Hall in Toronto late that year, and what a fantastic show it was. I was thrilled to get to see Courtney perform, noting her fingerstyle playing, which surprised me given the power and oft-strummed approach of her electric guitar. Her shy, but impeccable performance was completely endearing.
My photo of Courtney performing at The Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, in 2018
Courtney’s second album, Tell Me How You Really Feel, arrived in 2018 and was a more polished and slick evolution of her sound. No less catchy and powerful, the songs were thicker and more aggressive. Kim Deal played on the song, “Nameless, Faceless” and, along with her sister Kelley, on “I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch.” This time, I saw her in the tidier confines of the Danforth Music Hall and the sold-out audience lapped up the power of the new songs.
Another couple of non-album singles, “Small Talk” in late 2018 and “Everybody Here Hates You” in 2019 filled the gap before the third LP, Things Take Time, Take Time. Issued in late 2021 it was another strong LP with no weak songs. The rawer, edgier tones of her early work were largely abandoned as the songs continued the refinement of her sound, same as on the prior LP. The album featured more slow songs, evidencing greater maturity in that form in her songwriting. There were also more collaborations, with Cate Le Bon playing on “If I Don’t Hear from You Tonight”. The closing track, “Oh the Night”, included singer, Vagabon, and Stella Mozgawa, the Australian drummer from the American all-female band, Warpaint. Stella had been the drummer on the Lotta Sea Lice tour, and was again on the tour for this LP, which I saw at Massey Hall in 2022 (pics below are from that show).
Courtney has also done many cover songs along the way. Consistent with modern music careers, Courtney has kept her name in release during the gaps between her albums, and the covers have been central to that strategy. The covers have also seen her in more collaborations, another increasing trend in modern times. In an MTV Unplugged show and album in 2019, she performed Leonard Cohen’s, “So Long Marianne”, as well as Archie Roach’s, “Charcoal Lane”, in a duet with Paul Kelly. She did a duet in 2021 with singer, Vagabon, on Sharon Van Etten’s “Don’t Do It,” which was released as part of the tenth anniversary of Van Etten’s Epic LP. In 2023, she released a single of her cover of Chastity Belt’s, “Different Now” (the flipside of the single was Kurt Vile covering their tune, “This Time of Night”). Barnett has also contributed to several tribute albums: “I’ll Be Your Mirror” in 2021 for I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico, “Words and Guitar” in 2022 for the Sleater-Kinney tribute, Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album, and most recently, “Lotta Love” in 2025 for Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young.
End of the Day was an album released in 2023 and was the soundtrack to the film, Anonymous Club. The film was by Danny Cohen, who had followed Barnett around for three years collecting footage and commentary from her. The result was a low-key, intimate view of the notoriously reserved artist. The film described her as an ‘anti-influencer.’ The soundtrack was forty minutes of instrumentals spread across seventeen tracks of moody, subdued soundscapes mixing keyboards and guitar. The album was written and recorded with Mozgawa and could not have been more removed from her usual music.
In 2023, Courtney announced the closure of her label, Milk!, citing financial pressures following the pandemic. She and Jenn Cloher had split in 2018 and Barnett had been running the label with Tom Larnach-Jones wince 2019.
Performing on The Tonight Show in 2025
Just prior to updating this profile, we received the first new music of her usual style in four years with the October 2025 release of the single, “Stay in Your Lane.” Featuring Mozgawa on drums again, the song revealed a return to an edgy, more aggressive Courtney, consistent with the “airing of grievances” she cited for writing and releasing the tune. She performed it on the television show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and the single has raised expectations for a forthcoming album.
I can’t wait for more music and while I’ve been skipping many artists on tour recently that I’ve already seen in recent years, I will not do that with Courtney Barnett, I am here for her, every time. The quality and consistency of her albums since her arrival has made her one of my favourite artists, and I hope for you too.
The Playlist (“song” \ album (year)
“Lance Jr.” \ I’ve Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris EP (2012)
“History Eraser” \ non-album single / How to Carve A Carrot into A Rose EP (2012)
“Avant Gardener” \ How to Carve A Carrot into A Rose EP (2013)
“Elevator Operator” \ Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
“Pedestrian at Best” \ Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
“Dead Fox” \ Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
“Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party” \ Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
“Three Packs A Day” \ non-album single (2016)
“Over Everything “ \ Lotta Sea Lice (w/ Kurt Vile) (2017)
“Let It Go” \ Lotta Sea Lice (w/ Kurt Vile) (2017)
“City Looks Pretty” \ Tell Me How You Really Feel (2018)
“Charity” \ Tell Me How You Really Feel (2018)
“Nameless, Faceless” \ Tell Me How You Really Feel (2018)
“Help Your Self” \ Tell Me How You Really Feel (2018)
“Sunday Roast” \ Tell Me How You Really Feel (2018)
“Everybody Here Hates You” \ non-album single (2019)
“Rae Street” \ Things Take Time, Take Time (2021)
“Before You Gotta Go” \ Things Take Time, Take Time (2021)
“Turning Green” \ Things Take Time, Take Time (2021)
“If I Don’t Hear from You Tonight” \ Things Take Time, Take Time (2021)
“Write A List of Things to Look Forward To” \ Things Take Time, Take Time (2021)
“Stay in Your Lane” \ non-album single (2025)
