Album Review: Barns Courtney- The Attractions of Youth
Sometimes you just stumble across an artist by accident and immediately the ears prick up and you wonder "how have I never heard of you before?" Exactly this happened the other day when listening to a 'Rock and Indie' playlist on Spotify. Wasn't especially looking for some new music, but I did find an artist whose album I have had on repeat ever since. The singer, one Barns Courtney.
Nope, I hadn't heard of him either. And more's the pity, because the guy is a big talent. Born in England but raised in Scotland, his debut album has been two years in the making. Early singles 'Glitter and Gold' and 'Fire' have earned him over 70 million streams on Spotify alone and playing festivals such as BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2016.
Cherry picking his most popular songs and ignoring the rest of the album is doing his music a huge disservice, however. There is a wonderful variety of styles and influences to be discovered.
'Fire' and 'Glitter and Gold' kick the album off. Both are very strong indie anthems with big radio-friendly choruses and hooks. Doesn't take many listens for them to get under your skin. With the two main singles at the beginning, it's a big statement of intent. The rest of the album doesn't disappoint.
'Hands' follows on next and there's an immediate change in style. Gone is the polished sound and in its place is raw, scratchy indie rock more akin to garage rockers Palma Violets. It really works though and shows that loud and brash can be called upon.
Onto 'Golden Dandelions' and it quietens down again back to a style similar to the opening two tracks. It has a very radio friendly sound with another catchy chorus. You will see there is a pattern starting to emerge...
'Hellfire' encompasses that raw sound again while 'Hobo Rocket' draws more than a few parallels with 'Loser' by Beck. At least that was a connection my brain made when I first heard it. The fact that Beck is mentioned in the lyrics could be pure coincidence. It's one of the strongest songs on the album though. How he manages to fit so many hooks into a 3-minute song I don't know. It's a superb indie anthem which you can imagine would go down a storm at summer festivals.
The short interlude before the next song is a nice rest bite before the album moves onto 'Champion'. Now, this was the first song that got me into Barns Courtney and it's still one of my favourites. Sounding not unlike Imagine Dragons, it has a strong beat and another big chorus.
'Kicks' shows that brash indie has plenty of representation while you could imagine if Ed Sheeran had released 'Never Let You Down' it would already be a worldwide smash hit. 'Goodbye John Smith' is a beautiful change of pace. A wonderful, slow paced piano ballad, listening to it, it sounds like a song from a different artist has been slipped in by mistake. It just shows, however, the range of styles he is capable of as well as the strength of songwriting on display.
'Little Boy' is next and sounds like a lost track from David Gray, especially on the bridge between the verse and chorus and in the chorus itself. Another strong track. 'Rather Die' ramps the volume up one last time before the album's end. Here similarities between Courtney and Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy can be heard. Given that Myles Kennedy is widely considered one of the best singers in rock at the moment, that is most definitely not a bad thing. It's only slight, but there is a definite similarity when it comes to the chorus. This can also be heard during 'Golden Dandelions'. The title track closes the album and it's a beautiful slow burner to end on.
Overall, it is an album of huge quality and one I have revisited multiple times over the past week or so. In that time, I have not got tired of listening to it. The level of songwriting and songcraft is something to be admired and his music deserves to be shared. The variety of styles on display is impressive and gives the album a well-rounded feel. Not only that, but there isn't a weak song on the album or one you'd wish to skip. It's only the second week of January, but it's going to take a very strong album to knock this off the perch as 'favourite musical discovery of the year'.
