Lotta Sea Lice is like sitting on Kurt and Courtney’s front porch listening to the two swap stories. The way that the two mesh together comes across as two musicians freely jamming, and the way one will pick up from the other seems perfectly natural. The way two swap and share their influences is like best friends sharing their favourite records with one another. The result is something wholesome, organic and actually quite sweet.

The record is an incredibly charming one, it’s a window into the friendship of two songwriters who live on opposite angles of the globe. There’s moments where the two indulge each other’s strengths. What makes the album more special is hearing the songwriters outside of what you know them for. Hearing Barnett play ‘Peepin’ Tom’ is something that you wouldn’t hear from one of her solo records and is something new for the songwriter vocally.

The two do seem to learn from each other, ‘Let It Go’ is one that sounds like Courtney is inviting Kurt to jam on one of her new songs. The whole album does sound like one showing the other a new trick. The joining of the two songwriters does make sense, even before sticking the album on you can picture how it will work together. There is a naive charm on the album that develops as it goes. ‘Fear Is like a Forest’ sounds like the two messing around getting better acquainted and a little braver with each other’s ideas. It’s one of many moments on the album where you can tell who came up with the song initially without looking it up. It could easily be one of Kurt’s trippy country-influenced songs, but the chord progression is something that must’ve come out of Barnett. Looking it up, it’s actually one of Barnett’s wife Jen Cloher’s songs.

Vocally Lotta Sea Lice is something we haven’t really heard from Barnett before. There’s lots of moments where she sings outside the colloquial style of Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit. Her voice is gorgeous to listen to, it’s natural and sounds a little shy. The duo don’t counter each other like you may expect, they complement each other very well, like two separate parts of the same machine.

‘Untogether’ ends the album and sounds like the two friends saying goodbye for now and it happens to be one of the prettiest songs on the album. It’s a very good Sunday listening album. It’s nothing abrasive and has the relaxing feel of sitting in their living room whilst they converse with each other.

Whilst Lotta Sea Lice won’t be either of the two’s best records, I don’t think it’s competing to be either. It’s a record that sounds like the process of writing an album, not to say it sounds unfinished but it comes across like the two have recorded just as they’ve learnt each other’s songs. The two seem to learn along the way and their different styles balance each other well. Where Kurt will drift off and take you with him, Courtney will bring you back. It’s a record about writing songs, travelling and friendship. It’s not so much an honest record but it is a very welcoming one. The duo invite you in and let you hang out with them and that’s a very rare thing to get from a record.

Chris Middleton

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