PRAISE FOR THINGS TAKE TIME, TAKE TIME
“Her most intimate to date… There’s truly nothing Courtney Barnett can’t do.” – triple j
“Worth waiting for, waiting for.” – Uncut, 9/10
“Her most accomplished album to date.” – Rolling Stone UK, ????
“For a record about captive states- isolation, anxiety, romantic hope – Things Take Time, Take Time knows how to move.” – Mojo, ????
“Things Take Time, Take Time is a quietly radical next step for the acclaimed alternative-rock singer and guitarist. The 10 songs, notable for their hand-made textures and evocative detail, have an intimate, sustained mood.” – The Age / Sydney Morning Herald
“Witty, dense lyricism and uneasy ruminations on modern life are this Australian musician’s bread and butter” – The New York Times
“Barnett, known for her insightful, poetic lyrics and almost dead-pan performance style, is a modern-day Americana star. In the lineage of Patti Smith or Iggy Pop, Barnett captivates like a spell” – American Songwriter
“A newfound peak from an artist that will never stop furthering herself musically and personally.”
– Pilerats
“Her most adventurous body of work yet, Things Take Time, Take Time, marks a new chapter for Barnett. An introspective and intimate release, the record documents her musings on love, patience, healing, and self-discovery.” – Beat Magazine
“Barnett’s return is characterised by her much-prized candour, as she refines her ability to take a slice out of the best and worst parts of life and offer it up to listeners on a silver platter of indie glory.” – Blunt Magazine
“An album appreciating the little things – trees sprouting leaves, phone calls, late-night ruminations – which, inevitably, turn into the big things: gratitude, friendship, love.” – MTV
Today, acclaimed artist Courtney Barnett releases her third studio album Things Take Time, Take Time on Milk! Records. The album is a finely-woven collage of snapshots recorded at a time of creative renewal and deeper understanding for Barnett, signalling an exciting new chapter for a musician who is operating at the very peak of her powers. Already receiving rave reviews from the likes of Mojo, Uncut, Rolling Stone and Loud and Quiet, Things Take Time, Take Time sees Barnett consolidating her place in the storied global lineage of ground-breaking and influential singer-songwriters.
Album opener (and first single) ‘Rae Street’ sets the tone beautifully, a gentle, mid-tempo essay that deconstructs the push-pull of companionship in today’s increasingly fractured society, particularly with the memorable chorus of “time is money; and money is no man’s friend”. And yet it is no diatribe, let alone solipsistic musing; in Barnett’s hands the plaintive lyrics become intensely, strikingly alive, a work of radical honesty that uses the most intimate, mundane of experiences (“in the morning I’m slow / I drag a chair over to the window”) as a way of prying open the way in which the human need to connect is often lost amidst the white noise. Elsewhere, ‘Before You Gotta Go’ is a love song the way only Barnett could write it, simultaneously moving and spiky, with the gorgeous refrain of “if something were to happen my dear, I wouldn’t want the last words you hear to be unkind” in particular striking a deep and resonant chord, while the album’s other single, ‘Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To’, is an intricately introspective track, painting a bittersweet picture of the circle of life, striking the chord between wistfulness and acceptance as she croons “nobody knows why we keep trying / and so on it goes, I’m looking forward to the next letter that I’m gonna get from you”.
Release week has also seen the launch of the gorgeous ‘If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight’ video, a delightful visual companion to Barnett’s one true unabashed love song to date, featuring a performance in Joshua Tree accompanied by album co-producer/ creative kindred spirit Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint, Kurt Vile) and acclaimed Welsh songwriter Cate Le Bon, who performed bass on the song.
In her own words – “I think my stance in the past was like, ‘There’s so many love songs and they don’t mean anything,’ but there’s something really special about zooming in on a moment and capturing it. “‘If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight’ comes from the state of where my head was at — trying to communicate honestly instead of keeping [my feelings] guarded.”
The album is a journey through heartbreak, recovery, and all the soft moments in between that speak to feelings and experiences so innately human and so innately Courtney Barnett, like Zoom friendships and satellites drifting through a summer’s sky. It’s no wonder Barnett has achieved such legendary status throughout her career; she understands the human need for comfort and self-reflection so perfectly and applies it to her aptly-created songs to create bodies of work that withstand the test of time.
To celebrate the album’s release, the 4x ARIA winner and Grammy and Brit Award nominee will be hitting the road in 2022 on her Things Take Time, Take Time tour – presented by Chugg Entertainment, Frontier Touring, Penny Drop and Village Sounds. Performing her first headline shows in over 3 years, Barnett will bring her fierce live band and universally adored millennial wit to Perth’s Astor Theatre on Thursday 10 March, The Forum in Melbourne on Thursday 17 March, and Brisbane’s The Tivoli on Saturday 26 March – with a Sydney show to be announced shortly. Tickets are on-sale today at 10AM local time via frontiertouring.com/
Additionally, don’t miss your chance to catch a special preview screening of Barnett‘s upcoming documentary, ANONYMOUS CLUB which is currently screening at the Sydney Film Festival and will be screening at ACMI for Melbourne Music Week in December – tickets available via https://www.anonymousclubfilm.
Filmed over three years, ANONYMOUS CLUB gives unprecedented, intimate access to the private life of Courtney Barnett, an artist acclaimed by audiences all over the world. This innovative and stylised 16mm feature documentary follows a paradoxically introverted performer and anti-influencer, who, at the height of success, is ready to walk away. Long-time collaborator Danny Cohen’s feature documentary reveals a woman who finds power in sharing her vulnerability. Recording her innermost thoughts on a dictaphone, Courtney begins her slow acceptance of Danny Cohen’s camera. This unique filming process mirrors Courtney’s gradual search for purpose and emergence as an artist embracing her place in the world.
Things Take Time, Take Time is available now on vinyl, CD, and digitally. Hidden inside one random All Eyes on the Pavement Blue LP, exclusive to key indie retailers, is a single Golden Ticket where the lucky recipient will win return flights, accommodation and concert tickets for two to attend any Courtney Barnett show within Australia, as well as a Deluxe Boxset version of the album worth $100. Total maximum prize value $2000 (T&Cs here)
Buy / Stream Things Take Time, Take Time via https://courtney-barnett.
Courtney Barnett –
Things Take Time, Take Time
1. Rae Street
2. Sunfair Sundown
3. Here’s the Thing
4. Before You Gotta Go
5. Turning Green
6. Take it Day By Day
7. If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight
8. Write a List of Things to Look Forward To
9. Splendour
10. Oh the Night
Courtney Barnett
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