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Being that Melbourne is the live music capital of Australia, it’s no surprise that their output is finally getting noticed around the world. From the psych-rock bands like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and The Baudelaires to the garage rock of The Drones and Courtney Barnett. Though having been a respected songwriter in her own right for over a decade now, at this point it is almost impossible to mention the Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Jen Cloher without mentioning her wife, Courtney Barnett. Besides co-running their own independent record label, Milk! Records, Barnett plays guitar on Cloher’s new self-titled LP, which happens to be heavy on songs about their relationship.
Cloher has never been one to shy away from honesty in her songs and her new album may contain some of her most candid songs yet. There are a few songs that are more politically driven, bashing the conservativism of both her native country and their backwards thinking about same-sex marriage in “Analysis Paralysis” as well as Trump’s America in “Kinda Biblical”. However, the majority of the album centers on her relationship with wife, Courtney Barnett. The opening track, “Forgot Myself,” discusses Cloher’s tendency to forget to take care of herself while Barnett’s away on tour and the loneliness that ensues. “You’re riding around the world / You’re doing this and signing that … I’m driving in my car / Your song comes on the radio / And I remember what I always forget – loneliness,” sings Cloher. On “Sensory Memory,” Cloher writes about missing Barnett while she’s on tour and the reasons why she doesn’t go on tour with her, but how she’ll always be there when she gets home. The darker, drudgey tune “Shoegazers” takes aim at the music industry as Cloher sings, “Indie rock is full of privileged white kids” before admitting, “I know because I am one of them.” The song also takes a shot at critics as she sneers, “Most critics are pussies who wanna look cool / Those who can they do, those who can’t review” which maybe isn’t far from the mark.
The release of her self-titled LP finds Cloher ditching the twang and shuffling drums beats that permeated her first three albums for slow intimate tunes as well at Riot Grrl sounding garage rock. The addition of Courtney Barnett on guitar and Barnett’s bassist, Bones, on this endeavor may have been a contributing factor, or it could be that she has just moved beyond her former style. Either way, it is a sound that fits Cloher well and finds her releasing her best album to date. As she is slated to be the opening act for the upcoming collaboration tour with Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, it would be a fair prediction that her music and top-notch songwriting will finally gain wider recognition.
