This week's pick for World Cafe: Next is Melbourne, Australia's Courtney Barnett. The 25-year-old singer and guitarist has been self-releasing EPs since 2012; two of them were recently combined to form The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas.
Barnett's musical strength lies in her lyrics: rambling and witty, yet delivered in a matter-of-fact deadpan. Her songs take listeners through fleeting observations that, when observed as a whole, form powerful and introspective compositions. One of the songs featured in Monday's session, "Avant Gardener," is a first-person account of anaphylactic shock. The song, which has earned Barnett substantial attention, is available for download along with this week's podcast.
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