Courtney Barnett Leads New Cover Album From Milk! Records

Milk! Records, the independent record label started by Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher in 2012, has today announced a new compilation record of covers. 

To be released on Friday 15 November, Milk On Milk will see the Melbourne label’s artists covering each other's songs. 

The lead track, which sees Barnett covering Loose Tooth, was released today. 

“We took Loose Tooth on tour around Europe in mid 2018 and every night I sat in my hotel room teaching myself how to play Keep On," Barnett said.

"This was before their album had come out but the song already felt like an old classic to me. I sat in bed with my guitar every night and I had to slow the song down and pull it apart a little bit and in that process it gained a certain weight where I heard the words differently. 

"The chorus became a mantra and shook me up a bit. Loose Tooth have this incredible talent for churning out the sweetest pop songs with these biting lyrics, all whilst maintaining this charming and disarming onstage banter and crowd surfing to the bar for a beer mid-song. The lyrics to this song are particularly powerful and nostalgic to me."

Barnett performed the song with Jen Sholakis on drums, Hachiku on additional vocals and Dave Mudie on bass, and the track was recorded in a few hours. 

"I didn’t let them rehearse 'cos I knew they’re too good and they’d work better and looser under the pressure," Barnett said. 

Check out the cover above. 

The compilation album will also feature Tiny Ruins, Hachiku, Jen Cloher, The Finks, Jade Image, Evelyn Ida Morris, East Brunswick All Girls Choir and Loose Tooth. 

Milk! Records will bring the covers to life at their Christmas show in Melbourne. Scroll down to theGuide for all the details.