At this point, somewhere around the summer of 2023, the concept of a new album couldn't have been further from Courtney's mind; she was doing all she could to remember what it was to be a songwriter. Nothing flashy, nothing overly experimental, just returning to the root of what has always stood out so firmly in her past work: her humanity.

"It was a humbling reminder that I don't know what I'm doing!" she laughs. "I was just writing pages and pages of whatever was in my head. None of it really was good or impressive in any way; I was just allowing myself to get in the swing of it and trying to tap into my subconscious a little.

"I go through phases of having structure and having artistic discipline, and I think this process was a real reminder that writing and creativity are a practice. I've got to keep working at it and keep learning because I never feel like I can just sit down and know what I'm going to do."

A few months into what became almost a writer's retreat-from-home, fragments of ideas began to stand out from the page. Patterns were emerging, themes making themselves known, and Courtney began to feel as though she might have stumbled into enough material to create a new album.

It's not a huge surprise, given the journey so far had been about Courtney reconnecting with her innermost psyche, that the first chorus that came to life was for anxiety-riddled 'Wonder' ("And I wonder what you say when I'm not around"). But it wasn't until about a year after that initial chorus came to life that the song was finished, courtesy of a visit from a particular insect that makes its way onto the album artwork.

"I kept collecting songs and or parts of songs or ideas, but I think it was when I wrote 'Mantis' that I felt like the album was starting to come together. It felt like the glue of all the songs, like it made the others make sense. It's quite a mundane but beautiful song; it embodies the meaning of the whole album within its lyrics.

"I didn't have the chorus for a long time, then I had this moment where I saw a praying mantis on my kitchen door. The timing was perfect. I was really sad and feeling really lost, and this little mantis showed up as if it was trying to send me a message from the universe or something. It was this really surreal moment where I was by myself, and it put me back on the right path."

As much as there are moments on this record which are starkly and obviously drawn from Courtney's lowest ebb – whether in acoustic ballad 'Mostly Patient' or in the more frustrated, vociferous cries of 'One Thing at a Time' – the record is ultimately about coming to terms with your surroundings and overcoming them in whatever way you can.

'Site Unseen (ft. Waxahatchee)' documents her first tentative and ultimately joyous steps into Los Angeles life, with closer 'Another Beautiful Day' acting as the final sunset, with Courtney driving full speed into an era defined by peace rather than panic.

The track listing on any album is important, but for 'Creature of Habit', it became the lifeblood upon which the story either soared or sank. A tapestry of life, it's never linear and never predictable.

"It was so hard to place 'Mostly Patient'," Courtney admits, "because my instinct was to put it at the end. I think [at track 4], though, it's like a nice breath of fresh air in the middle of everything.

"The tracklisting took a really long time, trying to find the balance and flow musically and emotionally. It's a really important part of the process because it does tell a story. I want the album to be listened to as a whole, obviously, so I think it's important how it all works as one and how it rolls."

Just as the album as a whole jolts between tongue-in-cheek existentialism ('Same') and a glint of light at the end of a tunnel lined with pitfalls, Courtney lyrically keeps her audience on their toes.

Metaphorical elements slam up against searing realism, truthfully replicating her headspace throughout her journaling and subsequent, almost accidental album-writing process.

"My main goal was trying to tap into that subconscious part of the brain, the bit before thoughts get filtered, basically. I think that's kind of similar to a dream state, where things are a little bit symbolic or metaphorical and don't always make complete sense!

"Then sometimes I would understand the meaning months later, so it was a funny process of not starting a song with an intention – like 'I'm going to write a song about this person that hurt my feelings' – it was a little bit more difficult because I didn't have anything to grab on to, but it was nice to just trust the process as well."

Every aspect of the record, from initial sparks into the full blaze that is the complete project – one which rivals 'Sometimes I Sit and Think...' as her magnum opus – circles back to the same central theme of Courtney returning to the most basic of principles to understand who she is, how she's got here, and where she could go next.

As an artist whose trade was made at live shows, it's no surprise that the album announcement comes with extensive tour dates, including a string of grassroots venue shows in British towns that Courtney has yet to play, including Sunderland's Independent, Bedford's Esquires, and Margate's Where Else?

"I've been really lucky to play so many different venues over my whole career, but for so long I was in those smaller rooms. If we lose them, then we lose musicians. People won't have anywhere to start. I started out playing open mic nights in bars, which was so important for me learning how to be a performer. It's really important to me to support them however I can.

"I'm really excited about it. These first few shows are going to be really special, playing in some new places and some awesome, awesome venues. It'll feel refreshing to have new songs to play that I feel so immediately connected to; they feel so new and relevant in my life."

In particular, their relevance stems from Courtney doing all she can, in the words of Johnny Mercer, to accentuate the positive. After years mentally in the wilderness, fighting to stay afloat in an industry seemingly always inventing new ways to drag you under, she is calm, collected and – most importantly – happy.

"I feel great," she states. "I think I have so many moments of like ups and downs, but there's a lyric in 'Mantis' which is I'm exercising how good it feels to be alive.

"I think that's a daily practice because it's a bit of extra work to be happy in this life. It's easier to not be happy, and I've been not happy a lot of my life. It doesn't mean I don't feel all those other things, but I'm just trying to embrace all the positive things amongst the other shit. I feel a lot of gratitude for what I have in my life and just remind myself of that every day."

Compared to where she was at the start of 2023, an artist devoid of any inspiration or idea of what she was going to do next, the version of Courtney Barnett that stands tall today couldn't be more different. She's shaken off the shackles of self-doubt and self-flagellation, harnessed that intense soul-fire, and transformed it into a sound that has never been as self-assured.

"By the end of this writing process, I felt really inspired to make something else almost straight away," Courtney reveals.

"I'm just trying to embrace every experience. I don't want to rely on old ideas or things that I'm used to. I want to push myself to learn new things and reach further, reach higher."

Courtney Barnett's new album 'Creature of Habit' is out 27th March.