After building a reputation on biting, wry lyricism, Courtney Barnett will go instrumental for a new collection of songs, End of the Day. Out September 8th via Barnett’s own Milk! Records and Mom + Pop, this album of 17 improvised instrumental tracks originally served as the soundtrack to the 2021 documentary on the Australian singer-songwriter, Anonymous Club.
Created in collaboration with producer Stella Mozgawa, the three-track preview of End of the Day shared Monday provides an ethereal soundscape to a visual accompaniment from filmmaker Claire Marie Vogel. Combined with visual elements, the End of the Day tracks “Start Somewhere”, “Life Balance”, and “First Slow” provide seamless texture with an ambient mix of guitar (Barnett) and synthesizer (Mozgawa).
Courtney Barnett – “Start Somewhere”, “Life Balance”, “First Slow” [Official Video]
The recording process for what became End of the Day was something of a perfect storm. Back in May 2021, Barnett and Mozgawa had just finished the final masters of Barnett’s brilliantly sentimental third album Things Take Time, Take Time when they met up with Anonymous Club director Danny Cohen in a Melbourne studio. Barnett had been experimenting with long-form improvisation, to which Mozgawa added her Oberheim OB6 synthesizer, and in walked Cohen who needed a soundtrack for his documentary.
Barnett and Mozgawa played along live to Cohen’s final edit, improvising with parameters “nothing too maudlin, obvious, or instructive, nothing to tell the future audience how they should be feeling about Barnett’s life onscreen.” The resulting product doesn’t dominate the film, which also highlights Barnett’s more traditional back catalog of songs, and instead exists along the periphery of the backstage footage of the singer and behind-the-scenes intimate view of the songwriter.
To celebrate the release of End of the Day, Barnett will stage a series of special two-set concerts across the U.S. this fall. The run of seven shows includes stops in Vermont, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, and L.A. and will feature one set of instrumental songs and improvisations from the album by Barnett and Mozgawa and a traditional second set of Barnett’s music.
A pre-sale for tickets to the run of End of the Day shows begins Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time. Fans can sign up here for first access. End of the Day is available here for pre-order in digital and physical formats. The album will mark the final release by Barnett’s Milk! Records before the label closes after more than 70 releases over a decade-plus of operation.
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