Courtney Barnett shares latest two cuts from new album ‘Creature of Habit’

Ahead of the release of her newest album late next month, Aussie songwriter Courtney Barnett shared another two of its tracks for our listening pleasure.

Having already shared the Waxahatchee-featuring lead single ‘Site Unseen’ and its predecessor ‘Stay In Your Lane’, Courtney has now offered up ‘Mantis’ and ‘Sugar Plum’. “‘Mantis’ is the microcosmic centrepiece of this album, it embodies the message and meaning of every track,” Courtney explains, of the former track. “It’s a song about searching, and it helped me find my way through ‘Creature Of Habit’.

“I was feeling particularly lost while I was working on this song. One day, I was standing in the kitchen, making a coffee, when I noticed a little green praying mantis sitting on top of the doorframe. I had never seen one there in the desert house, so I took it as an important sign from the universe. I texted a photo to Stella [Mozgawa] and she said it’s good luck, look it up! I did a quick search and found it to also represent patience, perseverance and a guide for those who needed direction. I stood and spoke to the mantis for a while, it was a strange and enlightening moment that I’ll never forget. Eventually, I got back to writing, and finally I had the chorus to this song.”

Both songs gets lifted from her forthcoming follow up proper to 2021’s ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’ (aside from Courtney’s 2023 instrumental album ‘End Of The Day’, which soundtracked her auto-documentary film Anonymous Club). ‘Creature Of Habit’ is due for release on 27th March via her new label home of Fiction, and doubles as her first release since relocating to LA and bidding farewell to her label Milk! Records. 

Listen to ‘Mantis’ and ‘Sugar Plum’ below.