Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile – Lotta Sea Lice – Album Review by Killian Laher

Australian artist Courtney Barnett and American guitarist Kurt Vile have teamed up for a collaborative album which sees the two of them cover each other’s songs plus a few originals and a couple of covers.  On first listen this feels like a missed opportunity, given that it’s coming out in October, as it’s possibly the most summery-sounding album of the year.  Barnett and Vile’s duet on Over Everything is a gorgeously vague, hazy sounding breezy strum with lashings of guitar loveliness.  And it continues from here, they turn Barnett’s Let It Go into a laidback, blissed-out duet, while Continental Breakfast is equally lovely, all slurred vocals and sighing guitars with lyrics about “watching the waves come in at night”.   There’s even a song (Vile’s) called Blue Cheese, and its banjo, whooping and whistling may prove a little too much for some.  On the other hand, Barnett’s solo voice and guitar version of Vile’s Peepin’ Tom is as stripped down as things get here.

It’s not all zonked-out lethargy, Fear Is Like A Forest has a fair slice of powerful Crazy Horse-style rocky guitar throughout, while Barnett’s Outta the Woodwork and the slow, bluesy grind On Script have an equal amount of swagger.  But mostly this is a lazy, relaxed album made for sitting around and chilling out.  It finishes with an acoustic cover of Belly’s Untogether which is like a combination of Mazzy Star and the Lemonheads at their drowsiest.  Lovely to relax to as you flick through the thesaurus for alternatives to “chilled”.  As you do.

Track List –

“Over Everything”
“Let It Go”
“Fear Is Like a Forest”
“Outta the Woodwork”
“Continental Breakfast”
“On Script”
“Blue Cheese”
“Peepin’ Tom”
“Untogether”

Over Everything –