Into The Music
Courtney Barnett has released her third studio album, Creature of Habit, and it arrives like she already knew what she was doing. Produced by John Congleton and featuring a guest appearance from Waxahatchee, the record is quieter and more deliberate than anything she has made before, which turns out to be exactly the right move.
Barnett’s particular genius has always been her eye for the mundane made strange. Where her debut, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, felt like a garage door slowly opening onto something bigger, and Tell Me How You Really Feel sharpened that into something more anxious, Creature of Habit feels like a woman standing still in her own kitchen and deciding to finally look around. The writing is looser, and that looseness is earned.
Waxahatchee’s presence on the album is not a surprise move so much as a confirmation. Katie Crutchfield has been operating in a similar emotional territory for years now, the kind of singer-songwriter who treats detail like a love language. Having her alongside Barnett makes two of them examining the same window from slightly different angles, and it works beautifully.
Congleton brings a cleaner, more spacious sound than fans of Barnett’s scruffier early work might expect. The guitars are still there, still doing their thing, but they have been given room to breathe rather than room to wreck. If you have been waiting for her to make something that rewards headphones and a quiet afternoon, this is that album.
The record is out now on Marathon Artists. Barnett has not yet announced a tour to support it, though given the intimate feel of the album, the right venue would be somewhere with good sightlines and enough quiet that you can actually hear her think.
Creature of Habit does not shout its intentions. It just sits with you until you realize you have been listening for an hour and did not notice. That is not a small thing. That is most of the thing.
John Congleton producing this is such a good fit?? He just gets how to make a record feel lived-in without being messy. Courtney Barnett being ‘patient’ is honestly the best possible version of her , like she’s not trying to prove anything and it SHOWS 🙌✨
I don’t even know what specific line it was yet but something in that excerpt , ‘she already knew what she was doing’ , made me tear up a little. That patience thing is so real. Some albums feel like the artist finally stopped fighting themselves and just let the song be what it needed to be. I’ve been waiting for a record that felt like that.