Back in October, Courtney Barnett told an intimate crowd gathered in Melbourne ~how she really felt~. This morning (December 6) at the stroke of midnight, she’s telling the rest of the world, too, with the surprise release of MTV Australia Unplugged Live In Melbourne.
The new record spans eight live tracks gleaned from her “Unplugged” performance for MTV Australia, featuring collaborations with Paul Kelly, Evelyn Ida Morris, and Marlon Williams, in addition to covers of tunes by Leonard Cohen, Archie Roach, and Seeker Lover Keeper. Track six, “Untitled (Play It On Repeat),” presents a new original tune from Barnett as well.
“I love playing to Melbourne crowds,” Barnett shares. “I wanted to have a mixture of old songs, new songs and covers, and tracks that we don’t perform all the time. It’s been interesting to see the songs through a different filter, and it brings out this other emotional side to the music and the lyrics.”
“’Unplugged’ is so nostalgic for me,” she continues. “We had two ‘Unplugged’ records in our CD collection growing up, and I know those records inside out because we listened to them every day.”
While the album is available to stream now, physical copies of MTV Australia Unplugged Live In Melbourne won’t arrive until February 21.
Have a listen below.