Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice

Pitchfork 76

The collaborative LP from Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett feels like an overheard discussion between two existential misfits. They sing songs about writing songs, covering each other in the process.

The Guardian 60

(Marathon Artists/Matador/Milk!)

Related: Courtney Barnett: ‘It’s easy to feel hopeless and lost in this weird world’

A collaboration between these two singer-songwriters makes for an intriguing prospect, Vile’s melodic nous and J Mascis-worthy hypnopompic drawl seemingly the perfect complement to Barnett’s pin-sharp observational lyrics. And so it proves on opener Over Everything, a conversation between the two about songwriting set to gently meandering guitar that gradually builds momentum and is as insightful as it’s lovely. Let It Go and Continental Breakfast follow a similar vein, and are almost as good. However, there are lapses in quality control (Jen Cloher cover Fear Is Like a Forest is especially leaden) and they’re rather less sure-footed when they cover each other’s songs – or tackle Belly’s Untogether together. Not the triumph it could have been, then.