COURTNEY BARNETT and SAN FERMIN

Courtney Barnett is a Melbourne-based guitar player & singer & songwriter. In 2012 she started her own label, Milk! Records, and released her first EP I’ve Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris to glowing reviews around Australia. That quickly snowballed into International critical acclaim in 2013 with her second EP How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose.

Lead single Avant Gardener tells the story of an anaphylactic panic-attack in the midst of an Australian heatwave, with lyrics like “The paramedic thinks I’m clever cos I play guitar, I think she’s clever cos she stops people dying.” Pitchfork was so enamoured with Avant Gardener that they named it a prestigious ‘Best New Track’.

Courtney has combined these two releases into one and called it The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas to be released internationally via House Anxiety/Marathon Artists. This collection collates her story so far and is a unique introduction to an incomparable and exciting new talent. 

Along with Avant Gardener, selected highlights from the album include the gorgeous and woozy piano-strewn opener Out of the Woodwork, which showcases a darker side of her writing. Anonymous Club portrays Courtney at her most romantic and melancholic, while History Eraser is an infectious Dylan-esque cavalcade that was recently nominated (alongside Tame Impala) for the APRA Song Of The Year in Australia. And let’s not forget Lance Jr. which was the first song to catch people’s ears.

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San Fermin took shape after Ludwig-Leone's graduation from Yale University, where he studied composition. While still in college, he assisted composer Nico Muhly, known for his work with Antony and the Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens, and Grizzly Bear, on several film scores and operas.Despite being in several bands in high school and even some during college, Ludwig-Leone did not decide to focus on making pop music until the end of his college career: "I put on a concert with some new pieces I had written for female singers, and then we ended the night with some pop tunes from the band, for which I made these totally over-the-top arrangements. It was then I realized that I could bring these things together."

After his graduation from Yale, Ludwig-Leone retreated to Canada's secluded Banff Centre, where he wrote what would eventually become San Fermin. The album was recorded shortly after. It features performances by 22 musicians, including vocals from Ludwig-Leone's longtime collaborator Allen Tate, as well as Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius. While Tate is a member of the touring ensemble, Wolfe and Laessig are not, with Rae Cassidy performing the female parts in the band's live performances instead.Cassidy's interpretations of the songs have been praised by numerous critics, including Paul Krugman of The New York Times. The New Yorker recognized the musicianship of the entire eight-piece live ensemble, noting their ability to "deliver epic and emotion-laden rock, with glorious and operatic vocals, electronic break beats, horns, strings, and other flourishes."

The band released their self-titled debut on September 17, 2013 via Downtown Records to positive reviews. NPR called the record "one of the year's most surprising, ambitious, evocative and moving records," praising Ludwig-Leone for his ability to write a collection of songs "as easy to love as they are to admire." Pitchfork also gave the album a positive review, declaring the album's lead single "Sonsick" "deliriously infectious." The album reached #18 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers album chart.

Rae Cassidy has left the band in April 2014 in order to focus on her solo projects. She has been replaced by Charlene Kaye.

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