Earlier this year, Barns Courtney was homeless, sleeping rough or couch-surfing his way across London. Now, everything has changed. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter scored a UK radio hit with Glitter and Gold, and another of his tunes, Fire, was featured on the closing credits and trailer for the new Bradley Cooper movie, Burnt.
Courtney’s sudden ascent has been fuelled by support slots for Ed Sheeran – an old friend – and The Libertines, after he was spotted gigging by frontman Carl Barat.
On Sunday, Courtney clocks another remarkable milestone, warming up for Blur at the closing night of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“It’s crazy, like a total whirlwind,” says Courtney. “It’s mind-blowing how fast things are going – it’s all happened in a couple of months.”
This manic activity comes after half a decade of glacial progress. Born in the UK but raised in the United States, Courtney returned to England in his early teens. After years of “crappy bands playing in crappy pubs”, he formed rock group Dive Bella Dive with friends. They were signed “straight from school” to Island Records and bankrolled to record an album. Sadly, it never saw the light of day.
“Our record got shelved, and we got dropped,” says Courtney. “For it to all then just fall apart was devastating – it took me years to get over it.”
When that crushing blow came, in early 2013, the young musician had no Plan B.
“Suddenly I found myself out on the street,” he says. “I didn’t have any money to pay for anything, no qualifications.
“For two years I was homeless, sofa-surfing, living in my girlfriend’s car, working part-time in a computer store, selling cigarettes on the side.”
The experience drove Courtney to write an album's worth of material "about the struggle to succeed", including the rousing indie-folk battle cry Glitter and Gold, sung in his distinctive transatlantic growl.
“I’m really grateful for that time,” he says, “because it gave me a lot of good subject matter for my music.”
A ray of light appeared when Courtney was asked to warm-up for Ed Sheeran’s autumn tour. But it was a potentially bittersweet reunion.
“I grew up with Ed Sheeran in Ipswich,” he says. “We used to gig at this tiny little pub called The Steamboat Tavern.
“I was just amazed at how humble he was. He hadn’t changed at all, he didn’t try to offer me advice or talk down to me – he was exactly the same. We just picked off where we left off.”
Having waited so long – and worked so hard– for overdue exposure, Courtney’s feet remain firmly rooted on the ground.
“World domination would be a bonus, I’m just really happy and grateful to be making music for a living again,” he says. “If I’m lucky enough for people around the world to listen to it, then that’s amazing – but right now, this is pretty good.”
rgarratt@thenational.ae
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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If you go…
Emirates launched a new daily service to Mexico City this week, flying via Barcelona from Dh3,995.
Emirati citizens are among 67 nationalities who do not require a visa to Mexico. Entry is granted on arrival for stays of up to 180 days.
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
The Intruder
Director: Deon Taylor
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
One star
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
