POP/ROCK
Courtney Barnett, "Tell Me How You Really Feel" (Milk/Mom + Pop)
Don't say she didn't warn you. "Put me on a pedestal and I'll only disappoint you," she sang on her acclaimed 2015 debut album, words that were often interpreted as being aimed at her fans and a music industry that saw her as a star in the making.
That self-deprecating modesty is one of the virtues that make Barnett's songs feel so tangible. On her second solo album, the singer-songwriter and Australian bar-band veteran doubles down on the everyday details of how people get through their day. She's not into big statements, instead burrowing into an interior world that feels relatable to anyone who has experienced doubt about a relationship, the world or themselves.
Barnett sing-speaks as though in mid-conversation, but sharp turns of phrase punctuate her stream of conversation. There's the humorous way she juxtaposes the words "mother" and "mutter" in the ripping "I'm Not Your Mother, I'm Not Your Bitch." Then there's the way she drops a chilling little admission such as "I hold my keys between my fingers" in "Nameless, Faceless," about how women face the daily challenge of navigating a world that puts their physical safety at risk. Those details matter, and they give Barnett's songs a richness that their casual surfaces may initially belie.
A stream of hooks also testifies to the craftsmanship. Barnett turns a song with a hilariously tossed-off title, "Crippling Self-Doubt and a General Lack of Confidence," into a little pop jewel, with the Breeders' Kim and Kelley Deal on the chorus. Understatement rules, underpinned by punchy riffs and major-key lifts in the melodies, even when she's singing about disenchantment and doubt.
Rather than barge out of the gate on "Hopefulessness," Barnett sounds like she's tuning up, before settling into a riff that mushrooms into a damaged solo.
A casual, homespun air prevails. The songs feel deceptively buoyant, effortless. Barnett strives to reveal something about herself within the context of relatively straight-up verse-chorus songs. Her playing is devastatingly efficient, a procession of riffs, fills and sculpted feedback that stamps her as a modest master of rock guitar.
In "City Looks Pretty," the narrator battles homesickness, only to find she feels just as alienated when she finally does come home from a long tour. It epitomizes an album that's all about empathy, the small gestures that help people muddle through when they're down. It all comes full circle on "Sunday Roast," a quiet celebration of friends coming together for dinner. When she sings, "And I know all your stories, but I'll listen to them again," you're inclined to believe her.
GREG KOT, Chicago Tribune
new releases
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• James Bay, "Electric Light"
• Parquet Courts, "Wide Awake!"
• Kelly Willis, "Back Being Blue"
• John Maus, "Addendum"
