“Purple Haze felt impossible at first, but it was such an accomplishment once I got it”: Courtney Barnett on leftie legends, and embracing the Olympic White Stratocaster

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 26: Courtney Barnett performs during "People Have the Power: A Celebration of Patti Smith" presented by Michael Dorf at Carnegie Hall on March 26, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images).

In the decade since Courtney Barnett released her debut album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, she’s done very little sitting. The North Melbourne ambassador has put out three studio records, a live LP with Kurt Vile, and a soundtrack to 2023’s anti-rock biography Anonymous Club. Slacker rock by sound, but not by nature.

For her latest record, she and her band recorded in Joshua Tree, California, experiencing a desert-inspired renaissance after years on the road. Creature of Habit finds the Aussie songwriter returning to fuzzed-out fretwork on single, Stay In Your Lane, while tracks like Same fire up the chorus pedal for a synth-fuelled, sunshine ode.