Bridget Duggan

In the chorus of Courtney Barnett’s best known song, ‘Pedestrian at Best,’ she sings 'put me on a pedestal, and I’ll only disappoint you.'  Barnett has built quite a name for herself since the release of her debut album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Other Times I Just Sit, and even earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 2016.  And despite the skilled songwriter’s fear of disappointment, her sophomore album surpasses the 'pedestal' forged from the praise awarded to her first album.  Tell Me How You Really Feel is still full of Barnett’s signature Australian twang and candid, confessional lyrics - but shows growth, explores new themes, and exceeds expectations.

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Listen to Courtney Barnett’s ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’ here!

In the three years since releasing Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, Courtney Barnett has received near universal critical acclaim.  Her first album received high praise from Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, who described her as 'one of the sharpest, most original songwriters around - at any level, in any genre.'  Barnett grapples with this acclaim with a sort of imposter syndrome, and the pressure to avoid a ‘sophomore slump’ translates well in Tell Me How You Really Feel.  She reflects on this insecurity throughout the album, conveying a raw vulnerability that any listener who has struggled with similar feelings can relate to. With the aptly titled ‘Crippling Self Doubt and a General Lack of Self-Confidence,’ and lyrics like 'I don’t know a lot about you but / You seem to know a lot about me,' Barnett uniquely expresses her fear of not living up to past success with this album, along with the process of accepting and moving past episodes of uncertainty.  

In her earlier work, Barnett told stories through her lyrics, ones that are astonishingly detailed and mundane, yet captivating.  This gave her a steady reputation as an introspective and wordy lyricist who contemplates the absurdity and meaning of everyday life.  On songwriting, Barnett has said that "The one thing that captivates me in a song is the honesty of a songwriter. It could be about walking to the shop, but if it's said with that person's perspective then it can make it interesting." Her detailed perspective shows through songs that focus on the minutiae of experiences like an asthma attack (‘Avant Gardener’) or routine insomnia (‘An Illustration of Loneliness’).  In Tell Me How You Really Feel, Barnett relies less on narrative storytelling, yet packs just as much meaning in fewer words.  She’s traded in her heavy-handed wordplay and detailed accounts of house-hunting in the countryside (‘Depreston’) for brevity and lyrics that rely on emotion and music rather than witty songwriting.

Barnett is more candid than ever about her feminist beliefs, expressing them through the anger she feels about misogyny.

Barnett is also more candid than ever about her feminist beliefs on this album, expressing them through the anger she feels about misogyny.  The media often downplays the frustration women feel about sexism, as it is not traditionally feminine - Barnett’s take is refreshing, especially in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which she took part in by signing an open letter against sexual misconduct in the music industry.  In the standout track ‘Nameless, Faceless,’ she speaks of the anonymous harassment and criticism that is all too often faced by women online, often from men who are able to be both ‘nameless’ and ‘faceless’ behind their computer screens.  Barnett also reflects on how this 'pent up rage that they harness' translates into real concern for women, paraphrasing a popular Margaret Atwood quote in the chorus ('Men are scared that women will laugh at them / Women are scared that men will kill them').  She follows this by articulating how this fear manifests in women’s daily lives, singing 'I hold my keys / Between my fingers' in the post-chorus.

Tell Me How You Really Feel is a thought-provoking testament to insecurity, anger and womanhood, and is definitely worth a good listen.  Barnett’s reflections on self-doubt and personal anxieties serve as a reminder these struggles are universal, and shows her listeners that their 'vulnerability [is] stronger than it seems.' In her sophomore album, Courtney Barnett is telling the world how she really feels, and encouraging others to do the same.

 

Bridget Duggan is an editorial intern at bSmart. She is a New Jersey native and a rising sophomore at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

 

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