Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time

by Zena Grieg

published: 18 / 1 / 2022

Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time

Label: Marathon
Format: CD

Understated but uplifting third album from Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett

Review

Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett has released her third album ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’. Written and recorded during lockdown and in the wake of a romantic break-up, this new collection is imprinted by Barnett’s droll Australian humour and reflective songs, finely accompanied by the jangling guitars and drums of friend, long-time collaborator and co-producer Stella Mozgawa of all-girl band Warpaint. Songs about the minutiae of life, with the leitmotif she said “finding joy out of the mess.” Sparer than her previous albums, the highlights of this ten-track collection include: lead single and opener ‘Rae Street’, its lyrics laden with the weariness and dislocation of life in lockdown, observed in isolation from a Melbourne apartment: “Get back to normal/Lay it all on the table/Yeah, seem so stable/But you’re just hangin’ on”, the song ending on a note of hopeful resilience: “Let go that expectation/Change the station/And find out what you want”; the deadpan ‘Take It Day By Day' with its tough love encouragement of a friend in need; the melodic ‘Here’s The Thing’ with its confessional lyrics about a long-distance romance; the insistent urgency of indie-pop ‘Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To’ with its upbeat instrumentation and laconic lyrics: “…we did our best but what does that even mean?”; the slow-burning, languid ‘Splendour’; and the intimate closer ‘Oh the Night’ with its stark piano and emotional refrain: “Sorry that I’ve been slow/You know it takes a little/Time for me to show/How I really feel/Won’t you meet me somewhere in the middle/On our own time zone.” Low-key, uplifting, existential, ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’ marks another intriguing step in this engaging artist’s musical journey.

Track Listing:-

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