Creature of Habit by Courtney Barnett

Courtney Barnett is an Australian musician who released 3 solo albums and 1 collab album with Kurt Vile prior to releasing Creature of Habit. Creature is her first album since releasing Things Take Time, Take Time in 2021.

I’ve seen a handful of interviews with her promoting this new album and the amazing thing I’ve heard her say is the claim that she has “no idea what she’s doing.” No idea how to write a good song or melody or lyric… which is obviously hyperbole, considering she’s very good at it. Much like I wrote for Mitski, one of Barnett’s standout traits is absolute consistency with her songwriting. Every song is high quality – no filler at all.

This album is no different. She doesn’t cover much new ground in her songwriting, if you are familiar with her past work, but every song feels like a warm hug. Every note, every word in the right place.

Favorite tracks:

• “Stay in Your Lane”
• “Wonder”
• “Mantis”
• “Site Unseen” (featuring Waxahatchee)
• “One Thing at a Time”