Out of all of Courtney Barnett's albums thus far, Things Take Time, Take Time is her most patient and slow burning. The entire record acts like an introspective and healing moment in time, a therapeutic bath washing over you. Once you give it enough time and focus, you'll find a richly rewarding experience here.
Australian singer, songwriter (and avant gardener) Courtney Barnett has quickly become one of the most buzzed about and interesting artists in today's indie rock scene. Over the past several years her charming personality, dry wit, and rambling vocal delivery has truly defined her sound and appeal, standing out from this currently overcrowded space of DIY indie singer songwriters. Back in 2015 I was introduced to The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas, a collection of her two initial EP's that will still be influential to me to this day. The same goes with her debut full-length album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. These projects are simply like a homegrown, personal microscopic lens looking into the many standard things and thoughts that Courtney goes through in her mind on a given day. These two projects are easily two of my favorite musical moments over the past decade. Her strikingly funny and sharp lyricism and delivery seemed very original still to this day. The many overthinking thoughts and crazed moments of her debut translated rather successfully on her second album in 2018, titled Tell Me How You Really Feel. Barnett really stuck to her guns once again on creating a second offering detailing her insecurities through noisy and often jangly indie rock.
Three years after her last album, we've got a brand new album from Courtney Barnett. Her third, bluntly titled Things Take Time, Take Time, is a stylistic and thematic detour in her career. There is definitely a sense of somberness, simplicity and calm throughout this entire record unlike some of her previously angry, expressively noisy tunes. The entire record acts like an introspective and healing moment in time, a therapeutic bath washing over you. There is a greater sense of longing and loneliness, especially coming from the pandemic last year. Rather than typically recording with her backing band, this time it's just Courtney and Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa on this project with Mozgawa producing as well. The instrumentals are much quieter and are more atmospheric at times with added synthesizers and drum machines from Mozgawa. Many of the songs are almost skeletal and bare bones compared to the more full instrumentation of much of her previous work. It's for sure a more patience testing and slower listening experience, hence the album's title. But also in regards to the title, it seems to be referring to the time and patience it takes for wounds to properly heal, especially from the painfully difficult time last year.
Album opener and lead single "Rae Street" is the best track on the album. Barnett details what her neighborhood was like during last year's pandemic in a lazy and slow winding fashion. She narrates about everything she's observing from a garbage truck tiptoeing on the road to parents teaching their kids how to ride a bike. There are many lyrics to this song that definitely hark back to the pain, depression, and loss that many of us dealt with last year, but also hope: "Light a candle for the sufferin,'" "I'm just waiting for the day to become night," "Let's get back to normal." "Here's the Thing" is the album at its most beautiful and euphoric. The song's synthesizers, jangle guitar, and drum machines glimmer and shine into a hazy, gorgeous ray of sunlight washing on your face. "Before You Gotta Go" might be the most upbeat moment on the record with its steadily light grooves and pace. It's quite a stretch to call this upbeat; this entire album sounds instrumentally like Barnett at her most relaxed, quiet, and laid back. Nonetheless it's a genuinely great tune that remarks her trying to make things right once again.
The drum machines and bass grooves on "Turning Green" almost act like they're coming from a classic Stereolab song but then come the bright handclaps and cowbell. "If I Don't Hear from You Tonight" is a genuine ode to her romantic interest while thinking about the worst outcomes spinning around in her restless mind. This isn't new for Barnett; her mind's always wondering and spiraling nonstop but it still sounds refreshingly cheeky. "Write a List of Things to Look Forward to" resonates with many Australians watching the massively devastating brushfires from last year ("Sit beside me, watch the world burn" / "We'll never learn we don't deserve nice things"). The jangly guitars and grooves definitely bring me back to some of the excellent Real Estate tunes from records like Atlas or In Mind. The dark and stormy "Splendour" gently pours the listener with cloudy, rainy sadness and heartbreak. "Oh the Night" closes the album up in a classic piano rock fashion. The song is one of her most genuine and beautiful ballads yet; her songwriting and performance is very memorable and it acts like an ode to classic ballads from groups like The Beatles.
Out of all of her albums thus far, Things Take Time, Take Time is her most patient and slow burning one yet. It is not as immediate or instant as her previous material, so don't expect fireworks when immediately going into this album. It definitely wasn't instant to me at first and it took time before these songs won me over. I was initially put off from much the skeletal and simplistic approaches but the synthesizers and drum machines really bring great companionship with her lyrics. Once you give it enough time and focus, you'll find a richly rewarding experience here. After all the devastation and sadness that was brought onto us last year, Courtney Barnett has reminded us that it's the little things that matter the most to us. Things Take Time, Take Time is a genuine, wholesome, and personal experience that shouldn't be taken for granted.
My Rating: 8 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Rae Street," "Here's the Thing," "Oh the Night," "Write a List of Things to Look Forward to," "Splendour"
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