Hit Different: Inside Barnett's journey to her new record
How Barnett released her "signature sound" on latest album

Music journalists Mikey Cahill and Sosefina Fuamoli had Australian singer Courtney Barnett on Hit Different to talk them through the inner workings of her latest product.
Courtney Barnett first started writing and compiling her third studio album Things Take Time, Take Time in the middle of Melbourne’s 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
Originally an idea that she “tinkered with” throughout much of 2019, Barnett was then forced to wait throughout much of 2020 before she could link up with drummer Stella Mozgawa and begin recording.
“When lockdown lifted, I went up to Castlemaine because my band live up there, and we had a couple of days in the studio to do a few new versions of some of my new songs,” Barnett told Mikey Cahill and Sose Fuamoli on Hit Different.
“It was this backwards situation of booking studio time with the intention in the back of my mind that I was making an album, but not really going in there all guns blazing.”
The result is the aptly named ten song record. Full of adventures that was constantly offset and shifted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnett’s latest work was made by the singer “staying open to whatever situation arose”. Nothing summed up Barnett’s situation more than when she tried to film the music video for first single Rae Street at Melbourne’s Bakehouse Studios.
Back in the Hit Different saddle with @JoeyLightbulb and Courtney Barnett, the next episode’s a good’n. pic.twitter.com/SPHodchDfp
— Sose Fuamoli (@Sose_Fuamoli) August 25, 2021
“The day we were filming there were a few notices throughout the day that a lockdown might be announced, then we all watched the press conference on our phones while on a break,” Barnett recalled.
“I think we finished filming at six and lockdown started at eight or something like that – I’m very grateful we were able to do that.”
The album was reviewed positively by both Cahill and Fuamoli, with the pair believing Things Take Time, Take Time is the uplifting record Australia needs as the country still grapples to control rising coronavirus cases.
This story continues below.
We covered it on Hit Different, a weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.
“You’ve got that vision and I’m so glad you stuck to your guns because it’s a really economical sound,” Cahill said.
The Hit Different host held particular praise for Rae Street, a song that’s “not all guns blazing to start the record”.
“We hear it a lot on this record, this way of storytelling that I feel has become such a signature sound of yours,” Fuamoli said.
“I felt that was a real treat for me listening to this record, because if you’ve been with Courtney Barnett’s music from the first record, you’re not isolated, but if you’re coming to it for the first time, it does feel like such an organic progression.”
Probing deeper into Barnett’s musical journey, the Aussie singer revealed her favourite current tunes that are fuelling her explorations through different genres.
“There’s this artist I’ve found called Susumu Yokota and his album Sakura that I just found by accident and loved it,” Barnett said.
“It’s so beautiful and I’ve listened to it a lot – I’ve sent it to a few friends.”
Things Take Time, Take Time releases on November 12 from Milk! Records.
Hear the full story on Hit Different, a free weekly podcast that puts music culture in context.