tell me how you really feel

I nearly took today off from writing reviews. I worked an excessive amount this past weekend so I took today off to rest, and why I'm feeling physically better (I'd tweaked my knee during a tech rehearsal and it's finally not pissed off at me) my brain is feeling just a bit tired.

I've tried to help it today. Had three mugs of coffee at the diner with breakfast. Went on a brisk-ish walk to the post office to pick up parcels, had another cup of coffee. Sat down at the dining room table and started doing a crossword puzzle. Nothing was really doing it for me, and I nearly fell asleep on the couch.

Now if I were really worried about getting a particular project done I'd fire up some thrash metal and get to work, but this isn't a day for the likes of Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, or the like. I'm just not feeling that sort of vibe out of the afternoon. To be perfectly honest, what I really feel like is Tell Me How You Really Feel. 

Tell Me How You Really Feel is the latest release from Australian singer/guitarist Courtney Barnett. You probably remember her 2015 release Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit (if you don't, you should go listen to it now). It was all over the channels I discover music by, and it was a refreshing, kinda weird, kinda pop and kinda not sort of record. It was jangly distorted guitars and an Australian accent and simple stories about everyday life. She went on to follow that by doing a duo album with Kurt Vile in 2017 called Lotta Sea Lice. I admittedly didn't much favor that record, so when I saw on Bandcamp that Courtney was releasing a new album, I bought it with a tiny bit of hesitancy. Was she going to continue in the vein of Sometimes I Sit, basically follow up Lotta Sea Lice, or would she go a new way?

Thankfully for me it feels more like the former on Tell Me How You Really Feel. The first thing I notice is that the jangle in the guitar is almost totally gone. To give an example, take a listen to "Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party" from Sometimes I Sit, and then listen to "City Looks Pretty" from Tell Me How You Really Feel. They're both upbeat, they're both great examples of Barnett's pickless hand strumming style, they've both got good amounts of distortion. Yet the new album sounds like the work of a better guitar player that's growing incrementally. Her deadpan delivery is still perfect and one of the best things about her albums, and her witty, interesting tales haven't changed. 

Listening to this album a few times through while writing this has helped to wake me up, and to be completely honest the fact that I've been able to make a sort-of long form pun is making me smile. That's how I really feel.

Recommended tracks: "City Looks Pretty," "Nameless, Faceless," "Sunday Roast," "Hopefulessness," "Charity"