Don’t Get Why It's So Hard To Find Some Peace And Quiet

Courtney Barnett is one of those artists who I'm predisposed to like, but I haven't obsessively bought everything that they have released. 

I think I would have been flicking through a music magazine - Mojo or Uncut, most likely - in late 2014/early 2015 when I saw a picture of Courtney and was immediately captivated by her eyes. I then read the article and I was even more intrigued.

Pedestrian At Best was my first listen, followed by Depreston and Kim's Caravan, all three appearing on Courtney's debut album sometimes i sit and think, and sometimes i just sit. I was won over.

Fast forward a decade to October 2025, and Stay In Your Lane, the first sniff of a new song from Courtney's fourth album (sixth, if you count a collaboration with Kurt Vile and a soundtrack) entitled Creature Of Habit.

Site Unseen (a duet with Waxahatchee) followed in January, with 'visualisers' for two more songs last month then a fifth song, One Thing At A Time dropping on Tuesday. 

Site Unseen is the best of the three videos, albeit essentially a fun promo for Juliana and Nicola GIraffe aka Giraffe Studios. Album opener Stay In Your Lane is my favourite song. I love Courtney's solo to close One Thing At A Time, but I'm less convinced that, at 4:42, it's a single and the video is a bit of a naff distraction, if I'm honest.

 

Some of the Aussie inflections and edges which made Courtney's vocals stand out have been smoothed out since those songs I first heard in 2015, but I still can't help but smile when I hear that voice and guitar. I wouldn't always describe it as 'in perfect harmony' - and I'm glad it's not - but a singer and musician who are quite happily co-habiting. 

I'm looking forward to hearing Creature Of Habit in full this weekend. You can find it on Courtney's website, on Bandcamp or a clutch of other retailers.