I WON’T LIE, THIS WILL BE EPIC!
"Ali Barter’s music sounds like the soundtrack to a 90's misspent in the suburbs while dreaming of skyscrapers"
The Guardian
"If there’s one thing the power pop-rocker does best, it’s take angst and apathy and weave them into something deeply relatable"
triple j
“...the single [Backseat] kicks with crunchy guitar licks that sound like making eye-contact across a crowded bar while you’re bopping your head to the jukebox.”
Consequence Of Sound
“Hello, I'm Doing My Best offers up more hook-filled, crisply produced radio rock with plenty of grit and soul from Barter, who remains a compelling presence throughout”
Exclaim!
“she crafts pop-rock gems driven by her crystalline vocals, crafting a sound that would slip effortlessly into an American teen coming-of-age movie”
DIY Mag
“the record’s sweet, “sugar punk” sonics feel like something that could have been played from the high school rooftop at the end of 10 Things I Hate About You.”
Junkee
triple j feature album
Following a string of standout singles, today Ali Barter shares her long awaited second album Hello, I’m Doing My Best out on Inertia Music / [PIAS].
From the tender moments of Barter’s raw voice memo recordings on ‘Lester’ that open the record, to acknowledging she's trying her best on the last track ‘I Won’t Lie’, the new record roadmaps Barter’s complex relationships with her body, her instincts, sobriety and the old vices it counteracts.
Early accolades include Hello, I’m Doing My Best being spotlighted as triple j feature album this week, as well as profiles from DIY Mag, Billboard, Consequence Of Sound, Exclaim! and Junkee. Proving Barter’s frank storytelling is hitting a nerve at home and abroad.
Produced in tandem with her husband and constant collaborator, Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy), Hello, I’m Doing My Best sees Barter at her most open and unapologetic. Finding strength in sincerity and catharsis in candour, Barter delivers emotional lyrical sucker punches wrapped in upbeat pop melodies.
After conquering Europe and the UK, Ali Barter will take her live show to the road across Australia, playing dates in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide and Melbourne across October and November. Tickets on sale now via alibartermusic.com.
Hello, I’m Doing My Best follows Barter’s 2017 debut LP A Suitable Girl. A record that, by all accounts was critically and popularly acclaimed. Tone Deaf touted it as “an album that struck a nerve with Australia”, while Sydney Morning Herald backed her as a "star on the rise". Ali Barter, however, wasn't so sure. “The first record came out and for some reason I rejected it,” she says, listing the complaints she found with her own work: “it’s too polished and my voice is too high” being at the top of the list. Overcome with self-doubt, Barter pushed herself away from music, determined to never write another song.
But in the winter, a few months after the record's release, she went out of town to clear her head, with her guitar for company. "Stuff started coming up and I couldn't push it down," she says, and despite feeling like she "wasn't ready" for what these songs were saying, her and Dawson went about recording and testing the limits of her surprising new songs. She heard something in them she'd realised she didn't need to fight anymore. "When we demoed them up, I was like, Oh, there I am. The thing I was pushing against was me"
Hello I’m Doing My Best is a sentiment most can relate to, and therein lies the undeniable pull of Ali Barter’s output. From her breakout single ‘Girlie Bits’ to recent cut ‘Ur A Piece Of Shit’ Barter spins sobering honesty through sugary pop songs, like a one-two punch of staunch self assurance and touching vulnerability, in a way that is so uniquely her own. On her method, Barter explains “I really connect to the idea that you can say something really controversial, but if you say it in a nice way people are more likely to listen to it.”
Since winning the triple j Unearthed competition in 2013 and releasing her debut album A Suitable Girl in 2017, the former choir girl has enjoyed support at home from triple j, FBi Radio, The Australian, Rolling Stone and Tone Deaf, while further afield, Beats 1, Clash and The 405 have all thrown support behind the unconventional pop star.
Barter has toured relentlessly, completing two sold out headline tours, countless festival slots and supported The Rubens, The War On Drugs, The Jezabels, Stevie Nicks, The Preatures, Chrissie Hynde and personal hero, Liz Phair.
Full bio here.
ALI BARTER
HELLO, I’M DOING MY BEST AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Presented by Custom-Made, Collective Artists, TheMusic.com.au and triple j
supported by San Mei everywhere except *
Friday October 25 | Rosemount Hotel, Perth, WA*
Saturday Oct 26 | Kyneton Music Festival, Kyneton, VIC*
Thursday October 31 | The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD
Friday November 1 | Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, NSW
Saturday Nov 2 | Til The Wheels Fall Off Festival, Launceston, TAS*
Sunday November 3 | Alter, Hobart, TAS
Thursday November 7 | Jive, Adelaide, SA
Friday November 8 | Corner Hotel, Melbourne, NSW
Saturday Nov 9 | This That Festival, Newcastle, NSW*
Sunday Nov 10 | AMW Beach Concert, Cronulla, NSW*