Although Courtney Barnett is far from shedding her punk influences (which include Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, and Bikini Kill), her third album, 2021’s Things Take Time, Take Time, showcases the Australian indie rock singer/songwriter’s most intimate and vulnerable offerings yet. And with that, comes the artist’s biggest and fanciest headlining dates of the US so far. Next Friday, February 4th, Courtney Barnett will be headlining The Metropolitan Opera House, arguably the most opulent venue found in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.
Things Take Time, Take Time, has already received an abundance of critical praise from all the places a musician could hope. Interview Magazine proclaimed, “Glittering with wry lyrics and spare instrumentation, Barnett’s 10 tracks have the raw, intimate feel of demos, marking a pivot from her standard silken-voiced ironic punk fare,” while Rolling Stone characterized the album as, “her most reserved and thoughtful yet, full of everyday observation and wry wisdom — it grows slowly, but pay attention and you’ll grow with it.” It even made Barack Obama’s Favorite Music of 2021 list!
Courtney Barnett’s latest album is the product of her time spent alone at home in Melbourne in early 2020, after touring her sophomore LP, Tell me How You Really Feel, a time filled with self-reflection and introspection. However, as opposed to the somber and sore sounds that many such “escapes” tend to produce, Things Take Time, Take Time is actually the songwriter’s sunniest effort yet. “I feel like I was intentionally trying to find the positives in things,” Barnett has said of this time in Melbourne.
Highlights of Things Take Time, Take Time [which Barnett has been playing nightly] include charmingly unembarrassed love song [and latest single] “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight,” which resembles the faux-ironically flippant way all of the coolest kids of the mid-‘90s seemed to approach having feelings; first single “Rae Street,” an endearingly upbeat commentary on the seeming futility of the human experience; and “Sunfair Sundown,” a celebration of mundanities of everyday life not dissimilar to some of elder Lou Reed’s musings on the kinds of silly things that made him smile.
There are still tickets available for Courtney Barnett’s February 4th show at The Met Philly [including GA floor tickets for only $45]. Get them below and check out her recent performance of “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight” above on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
*Get your tickets here.
