Courtney Barnett

Comprised of 17 seamless improvisations which were originally created as part of the score to the documentary ‘Anonymous Club’, Courtney Barnett’s new album, ‘End Of The Day’ is a meditative, slow-burning and beautiful record, prioritizing atmosphere, tone and texture over traditional song structures and melodic hooks. It’s a fearless and stunning turn for an artist who built her formidable reputation through profound lyricism and riff-based fireworks.

These intimate performances will see Barnett perform with collaborator and producer Stella Mozgawa. The first set will see the pair perform instrumental music from the ‘End Of The Day’ album. The second set will see Barnett select from her catalogue with songs from Things Take Time, Take Time, Tell Me How You Really Feel, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit and Sea of Split Peas.

The string-backed “Lady in the Darkest Hour” is the set’s most luxuriant statement, recorded during a session at Matthew E. White’s Spacebomb Studios with in-house arranger Trey Pollard (Natalie Prass, Helado Negro). Here her lines ring bittersweet yet reassuring, uplifted by swells of golden-hued instrumentation. Searching for meaning (“Cause what I’d like to know / Is this it?”), Bollinger mirrors her subject in beaming delivery (“smile all sweet like it isn’t sour”), curving the words atop the rhythm and melody.

From the hushed abstractions of “I Found Out” to the biting suspicions of closer “Connecting Dots,” Kate Bollinger uses every inch of this dazzling EP to find her footing amidst the ever-present sways of life.