By Claire Kim
Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett released a double EP in the summer of 2013. Her songs are characterized by a story-telling lyrical style that exposes the inner workings of her brain. Barnett, with this refreshingly honest style of songwriting, soon caught the attention of listeners from all over the world. Her commentary and angle from which she describes seemingly everyday situations has made her first full album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit one of the most anticipated albums of 2015. On March 20, the album was released and simultaneously met with an overwhelming amount of praise. Barnett’s nonchalant attitude towards life, love and people were packaged perfectly in this indie rock album.
Barnett sums up our generation’s attitude towards social functions with the line, “I wanna go out, but I wanna stay home” in her song, “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party.” She uses lazy vocals, talking through her songs in almost a day-dreamy fashion. The situations that she comments on are those that most people experience, but don’t find important enough to describe. These characteristics may convince some people that the songs are shallow or just another alternative band that has gone “too alt.” And yet, Barnett is able to balance an incredible amount of heart and introspective evaluation with humor in each of her songs. Each topic that she hits in her songs contain golden nuggets of wisdom that she finds and expands upon.
The shortest song of the album, at two minutes, is “Aqua Profunda.” It talks of a swimmer that passes out trying to impress the person in the next lane. Through funky and upbeat music, we are able to enjoy this quirky story. “My lack of athleticism sunk like a stone/ Like a first owners home loan/ When I came to you, you and your towels were gone.” The strange details that are highlighted along with the friendly but distracted voice all adds to a strangely satisfying relationship with the voice. The listener feels oddly in cahoots with the main character, somehow getting a secretive inside look into a private encounter.
In “Kim’s Caravan,” the could-be-cheesy lyrics that explain, “We either think that we’re invincible or that we are invisible/ When realistically we’re somewhere in between/ We all think that we’re nobody but everybody is somebody else’s somebody” is delivered genuinely as it is packaged in a song that begins with the sight of a rotting seal carcass. A statement about ecological catastrophes, climate change and self-confidence is wrapped up and delivered to listeners through the very immediate and relatable sight of a person eating fries at the beach.
Witty, clever and thoughtful, Sometimes I Sit is an overall rewarding experience that gets better every time you play it. It is a reminder that there is beauty and conversation in the simple and everyday experiences. Barnett is somehow able to tell us not to take ourselves too seriously by showing us the way she maneuvers and thinks in her daily life. The album is intimate but not off-putting, and leaves the listener with a greater appreciation for our everyday lives.
