Watch Courtney Barnett Play Four Songs From Her New Album On Live From Here
We are now about a week and a half away from the release of Tell Me How You Really Feel, the second proper album from Courtney Barnett, the great Australian songwriter and guitar-monster. Tell Me How You Really Feel is very much a rock album, but it’s more chilled-out and reflective than Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Barnett’s last album. You might even say it’s calm enough that it might not jar any possible NPR listeners — listeners who may have just gotten an earful of the LP.
Barnett was a guest on the most recent episode of Live From Here, the show that was known as Prairie Home Companion before it got changed to avoid being associated with Garrison Keillor and his sexual-harassment allegations. Host Chris Thile introduced Barnett with a joke about Barnett driving up the show’s electricity bill, but it wasn’t like she was playing on gigantic ceiling-high Bill & Ted amps. For Barnett, this came off as a pretty laid-back set, one where she played four songs from the new album, including one we haven’t heard yet.
Barnett has thus far released three singles from Tell Me How You Really Feel, and all three are good: “Nameless, Faceless,” “Need A Little Time,” and “City Looks Pretty.” She played all three on the song, and all three sounded great. She also played “Sunday Roast,” the album’s meditative closer, a song that most of the world hasn’t heard yet. (If you managed to get your hands on the “City Looks Pretty” Record Store Day single, “Sunday Roast” is the B-side, but it hasn’t been online yet.) Watch all four performances below.
Tell Me How You Really Feel is out 5/18 on Mom + Pop/Marathon/Milk! Records.