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Courtney Barnett can tell you a story like she’s your best friend — provided your best friend is a funny poet with an Australian accent. Listen to “Avant Gardener,” an autobiographical account of trying to turn a life around through gardening, only to be foiled by a severe allergic reaction. The tale that follows at this Tiny Desk Concert, “History Eraser,” is a ramble in an alcohol-fueled dream state; it features some of the best lyric-writing in music today. Here’s a sample from that song:

“I found an Ezra Pound and made a bet that if I found a cigarette I’d drop it all and marry you. Just then a song comes on: “You can’t always get what you want” — The Rolling Stones, oh, woe is we, the irony! The Stones became the moss and once all inhibitions lost, the hipsters made a mission to the farm. We drove by tractor there, the yellow straw replaced our hair, we laced the dairy river with the cream of sweet vermouth.”

The only downside for a fan like me is that these songs have been kicking around my head for more than a year. As she played them, I found myself hoping for something new, too. And so it was that Barnett graced the Tiny Desk with a brand-new tune, not yet on a record, about a suburb near Melbourne known as Preston; it’s a song about house-hunting that she appropriately calls “Depreston.” The song is thoughtful, acerbic and funny, just like the woman who sings it. —BOB BOILEN

Set List
“Avant Gardener”
“History Eraser”
“Depreston”

Credits
Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Gabriella Garcia-Pardo, Olivia Merrion; photo by Jim Tuttle/NPR