If you are reading this blog, you very likely have already heard of Courtney Barnett. If you haven’t, it is my pleasure to introduce you: The Australian singer is one of the best songwriters out there right now, and the singles we have heard thus far off of her March 25 release, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, only confirm this. “Depreston,” while less of a double-entendre showcase than some of her other tracks, finds Barnett in a more vulnerable space.
The track follows Barnett as she looks for housing in Preston, a suburb of Melbourne that is quintessentially milquetoast, heavy laden with emptiness that signals cultural complacency and, in this case, very cheap rent. We run alongside her thoughts as they race through her head, accompanied by the warm vocals and poignant details that make Barnett’s work so pleasantly distinctive.