Courtney Barnett and the evolution of an artist – The San Diego Union-Tribune

In the waning minutes of Anonymous Club, Courtney Barnetts new feature-length documentary, the Australian singer-songwriter arrives at a seemingly significant conclusion.

Ive figured out that my eternal goal is to empower people who need empowering, the Grammy nominee states matter-of-factly over slow-motion shots of adoring fans. I want to give someone in the audience the energy or power to feel something. To forget something. To remember something. To be inspired. To feel happiness or to feel an emotion that allows them to transcend life and you know, helps them in their journey.

For a notoriously shy artist whose breakthrough was a song about panic attacks while gardening, the films send-off earmarks a radical shift in the way Barnett communicates beyond her music.

But without a random suggestion from a friend, Anonymous Club, and all of its tidy bits of insight, would not exist.

Preparing to hit the road following the release of 2018s Tell Me How You Really Feel, Barnett was asked by longtime collaborator Danny Cohen to keep an audio diary. He provided her with a dictaphone and joined his colleague on tour to shoot some footage as planned. Other than hoping that theyd inform one another, there were no immediate plans for either the audio recordings or the footage.

Over the course of three years, Barnett quietly confessed and confided to the dictaphone in hotel rooms, driving between gigs, and whenever she felt compelled to get something off her chest. Cohen sporadically joined Barnett on tour and shot footage. The pairing of the two archives ultimately became Anonymous Club, but Barnett never imagined her audio entries would serve as narration to the film.

I didnt intend for it to be the film it became, she explained recently from her half-the-year home in Joshua Tree. I had no expectations and just thought, Lets document the tour. I struggle with social media sometimes because I feel like I cant think straight, and Im trying to present myself in a way that has an intention. But I was just moving through the world, talking about what I was thinking and feeling. I assumed some of it would feed toward the narrative, but never thought it would be the narration. I didnt have any of those expectations, and in turn, that gave it this weird honesty.

That weird honesty is an essential feature of the film that Cohen wrote and directed. But more importantly, the three years of footage that incorporates Anonymous Club seems to document something even bigger.

Barnetts latest album, last years Things Take Time, Take Time, represents a stark tonal shift from Tell Me How You Really Feel. Cohen captured the making of Barnetts most recent offering, as she worked with Warpaint drummer, friend and fellow Aussie Stella Mozgawa, in what looked like an easy-going and enjoyable manner.

While its obvious when listening to the two albums side by side, Barnett explained their stark differences through the overarching themes of each project.

The last album you could hear a lot of tension in there, she said, a lot of defensiveness, frustration and anger. This album is a lot more gentle and open. These songs focus on love. But not just love of a person, the love of being a loving person.

Could that shift also be the result of successfully purging thoughts and concerns over an extended period of time? Probably. Either way, Barnett appears far more comfortable both personally and professionally.

Take her current Here and There festival. Tucked neatly into the middle of her world tour, Barnett has organized her own stand-alone, 12-date run featuring a different lineup of headline-worthy guests each night.

Inspired by her curation of the 2019 Belgian Sonic City festival and a Newport Folk Foundation event in 2020, Barnett brought Here and There to life this year.

Featuring the likes of Fred Armisen, Japanese Breakfast, Snail Mail, Wet Leg, Lucy Dacus and Sleater-Kinney joining Barnett in different cities over the next few weeks, this initial run will dictate how the festival evolves in coming years.

COVID replacement dates and general scheduling issues dictated that Here and There make its debut in the middle of an already scheduled world tour, but Barnett is actually glad it happened that way.

Itll definitely be a different energy, she said. Were partnering with lots of local community organizations and LGBTQIA+ organizations through the Allied Coalition. And we do that at a lot of my American shows anyway, encouraging people to vote and enroll to vote. It just feels like having all of those groups together at this festival is a little bit more of a community vibe than a normal show. Were just that little extra bit more connected. And thats nice.

San Diegos version of Here and There will feature a pair of Southern singer-songwriters in North Carolinas Indigo De Souza and Florida-born, current Alabamian Ethel Cain. And the festival itself has spawned a limited run compilation to raise funds for reproductive rights.

As for whats next, Barnett is reluctant to say. But shes at peace with the unprecedented vulnerability the film has brought and that makes the future look just a little bit brighter.

Im at ease with it, Barnett said. It exists and is what it is. I just hope that somebody finds something useful within it. That will make it all worthwhile.

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28

Where: Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, 2214 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego

Tickets: $41 (standing-room only)

Online: ticketmaster.com

McDonald is a freelance writer.

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Courtney Barnett and the evolution of an artist - The San Diego Union-Tribune