Courtney Barnett debuts at #1 on five US charts

The buzz that intensified around Courtney Barnett in recent months in the United States has translated onto the Billboard charts.

The Melbourne-based singer songwriter’s debut album Sometimes I Sit and Think And Sometimes I Just Sit has debuted at #1 on the Rock, Alternative, Folk, Independent and Vinyl charts and entered the Top 200 at #20. She sold 22,000 copies first week in the US, with 4,000 in the vinyl format.

It was not her first time in the UScharts. Last year, The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas made it to #40 in the Rock chart.

After faring well in all charts relevant to her music, it’s possible that down the track she’ll also make it into the Dance charts. In the pipeline is a full length EDM remix version of Sometimes I Sit, with contributions by names as Flume, The Avalanches, Muscles and White Shadows.

The album entered the UK charts at #16 but dropped to #39 (although it might climb up again following her current dates there) and #19 in New Zealand.

In Australia, the set, through Milk/Remote Control, dropped this week from its debut position of #4 to #11 and has sold a total of almost 9,000 units in her home market. It also debuted at #1 on the Carlton Dry Independent Music charts in the 100% Independent section, and #2 on the Independent Label section beaten by Lee Kernaghan’s Spirit Of The Anzacs.

More than just acclaimed for her evocative wordplay on every day experiences and stream of consciousness lyrics, Barnett has also become a media and consumer darling because she has a story to tell, whether it’s her honesty about her depression, her love for art, awkwardness in the spotlight, support for animal rights and a creative upbringing courtesy of her former ballerina mother and graphic designer father.

She herself plays down the buzz factor around her. She said recently, “I know a million great musicians, but the amount of them that get success they deserve is very minimal. It's one of those things, no one knows how it works. I'm not the right person to ask about that sort of thing. Really, I don't even know half the time what's going on."