When Courtney Barnett takes a solo in the last half of “Turning Green,” it evokes the two-note grubbiness of guitarist Pete Shelley’s work on the Buzzcocks’ “Boredom.” Barnett’s songs depend on moments when she trusts her instrument to become more than an extension of herself: Her guitar work functions as a pungent second voice, more demonstrative than the Daria-style talk-sing in which she’s most comfortable.
On “Oh the Night,” the simplicity of Mozgawa’s plonkety piano line complements Barnett’s insistence on back-to-basics, and also her tight budget for question marks: “It takes a little time for me to show how I really feel/Won’t you meet me somewhere in the middle.” It’s characteristic of Barnett that her line readings avoid any hint of pleading.
Things Take Time’s lead single, “Rae Street,” portends an ominous development: The storefronts and garbage trucks and other phenomena of urban life don’t excite this heir to Jonathan Richman like they once did.
Still, I’m glad Barnett hasn’t written sequels to “Depreston” or “Walkin’ on Eggshells.” If Things Take Time, Take Time sounds tentative, it’s the tentativeness of a febrile imagination working out its next steps; she’ll be back.