FEATURE:
Modern Heroines
PHOTO CREDIT: Jody Rogac for The New York Times
Part Ten: Sharon Van Etten
___________
TAKING this feature into double-digits…
PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Pfluger
is the amazing Sharon Van Etten. I have included her because, for a start, her music is among the very best around and, also, the fact Remind Me Tomorrow, her latest album, is one of 2019’s most stunning. I have been a follower of Van Etten’s for a little while, but I think she has hit top form this year. I also believe she will be considered an icon of the future and, at this moment, is one of the most inspiring artists in all of music. Born in New Jersey in 1981, Van Etten caught the musical bug when she attended North Hunterdon High School, where she participated in stage musicals. After a brief period at college, Van Etten had a few jobs – including a coffee shop-cum-record store – and moved back to New Jersey (from Tennessee) in 2004. Her move to New York happened in 2005 and, four years later, she released her debut album. A decade before she gave the world Remind Me Tomorrow, (It Was) Because I Was in Love arrived into the world. Perhaps a little more minimal than her later work, Van Etten’s debut puts her voice and guitar at the fore; there is a little bit of organ and harmonies but, for the most part, it is naked and incredibly compelling songwriting. (It Was) Because I Was in Love, as the title suggests, is very personal and, as this review from Drowned in Sound highlights, one could almost be listening to Van Etten’s diary entries:
“Lyrically, the album feels very much like a journal. That production we’ve spoke about only serves to shine a spotlight on that further. Creating that intimacy works wonders in terms of fitting with what are equally intimate lyrics. Take ‘Tornado’, a song that sounds exhausted and confessionary. She sings “I’m a tornado, you are the dust, you’re all around and you’re inside” in what is one of the strongest tracks from the record. That level of uncertainty the rears on ‘Much More Than That’ again as she closes with “I sigh and then I frown, I write this moment down, but I cannot paint pictures with my tongue.” As an audience, we relate how she feels about her own ability, but crucially, she actually can paint pictures with her tongue.
One thing the record does, that would return on later records, is showcase her knack for crafting vocal melodies that feel entirely original. She seemingly breaths and sighs her way through tracks, with layered vocals lending a sense of the haunted. But more importantly, the way she twists those vocals, seen most pertinently on the chorus of ‘I’m Giving Up On You’, makes everything sound uniquely her creation.
While the parenthesis-enhanced (It Was) Because I Was In Love may have been reissued, remastered and re-released as a bit of housekeeping, it actually stands to me as her most affecting material. It’s imperfect, indecisive, sometimes lacks real direction and is gorgeously raw. There’s certainly nothing anywhere near as anthemic as ‘Even When The Sun Comes Up Her’ and later material, particularly Are We There, is far more fleshed out. But here we get the most incisive look into the soul of Sharon van Etten and that’s hard to replicate.
If her debut was a glimpse of future brilliance, the honesty and emotion of (It Was) Because I Was in Love is stunning. A lot of artists take a little while to follow their debut album, but Sharon Van Etten brought Epic out in 2010 – just a year from her introduction. That suggests a determination and a creative flow; an urgency that can be heard in the album. Recorded and mixed in only eleven days with producer Brian McTear, Epic is a bit of a step up for Van Etten. Whilst the arrangements are still fairly minimal, she brought the likes of Cat Martino and David Hartley into the fold; there is a greater sense of depth and variety.
Epic’s title might be a slight exaggeration but, actually, there are some genuinely unexpected and big moments on the album. The 2010s has provided a lot of intriguing and wonderful albums, and I think Epic is one that is underrated and warrants greater inspection. Indeed, the critical response to Epic was positive. Relatively new on the scene, Sharon Van Etten was stilling finding her true voice but, even on album number-two, there were flashes of the genius that would be heard on Remind Me Tomorrow. In this review, James Skinner talks about Epic’s many strengths:
“Oddly, it’s the more straightforward songs here that take the most perseverance. Perhaps it’s the anger and bitterness imbuing the aforementioned that can’t help but render them more compelling than, for example, the loping country gait of ‘One Day’ or ‘Save Yourself’, or perhaps it’s just how refreshing it is to hear Van Etten fashion her songs into something as sprawling and otherworldly as her debut LP hinted at. Yet these tunes complement the others well, and carried by Van Etten’s husky, expressive pipes (I don’t think I’ve quite communicated how pretty her voice is; the word eludes me and ‘pretty’ just seems woefully inadequate), they offer lightness and balance, despite being rooted in the same dark places the album has been conjured from (think how Wilco offset the discord present on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with songs like ‘Kamera’ and ‘Heavy Metal Drummer’).
Tipping just over the 30-minute mark, Epic is a beautifully formed, sonically engaging work. Entering on a note of self-reprimand (just hearing Van Etten squeeze all the first words of ‘A Crime’ into one breath is affecting in itself) and making its exit with the transcendent ‘Love More’, it plays like a celebration and cautionary tale simultaneously, offering warmth even as she rues the decisions she’s made. As with The Antlers’ Hospice last year (where she sang backing vocals), the result is something universal: heavy, sure, but eminently listenable, and awash with memorable lines, songs, emotion”.
Having put out two albums in as many years, there was not long to wait until the third album arrived. Growing in confidence and scope, Tramp took Van Etten up another step. Released in February 2012, Tramp found Van Etten, again, bring in collaborators – including Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner and The National’s Aaron Dessner (who also produced the album with Van Etten). Recorded in New York and sporting a cover that features a close-up of Van Etten’s face in monochrome, one might think Tramp is quite a straightforward and raw album. Conversely, Tramp is a record with many different moods and sounds. With each album, Van Etten was pushing her craft and becoming more confident as a songwriter. Few could have heard Tramp and not been moved and impressed. It is a stunning album, and I think the choice of Aaron Dessner as producer is a wise move; one that results in (to that point) Van Etten’s best work.
As this NME review show, there was a bond and mutual respect between Van Etten and Dessner; the songs on Tramp are hugely impressive and varied:
“…Thankfully, no-one agreed – particularly Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The National’s Aaron Dessner, who covered ‘Love More’ from ‘Epic’ at a festival. A series of emails between Sharon and Aaron ensued, and he offered to produce her next album, ‘Tramp’. Her face looms from the cover in monochrome, in homage to John Cale’s 1974 album ‘Fear’. Whereas that often signifies a hackneyed attempt at fresh starts, Van Etten avoids obvious cliché.
The perspectives on the soaring, steely ‘Warsaw’ and mandolin brightness of ‘Leonard’ are conflicted between desire and trust. The triumphant ‘All I Can’ crests on a country-indebted vocal, while she’s spiteful on the tense, artillery-drummed ‘Serpents’, hissing, “You enjoy… sssucking on dreams/So I will fall asleep with someone other than you”. The sadness returns on ‘In Line’, a heartbreakingly sombre, heavy meditation where she confesses, “When you were on my side/The world was shitty then”, but as she repeatedly cries “in line”, the intensity of her voice breaks free of rank and restraint.
In recent years, it has been a joy to see Van Etten growing in confidence as an artist – and this isn’t just her finest album, but one of early 2012’s best. She won’t remain under the radar much longer”.
I have not brought any interviews in to this point, as I wanted to focus more on the music and reviews; how critics reacted to Van Etten’s work and how she developed between albums. I have heard and read many interviews from Sharon Van Etten, and she is among the most engaging and interesting artists you care to name. From slightly humble beginnings, over the space of a few years, Van Etten had established her name and was recording with a host of different musicians. I think it was around the time of Tramp’s arrival that I started to catch on to Van Etten’s music. I had not really heard a songwriter so, presented with an album like Tramp opened my eyes. There are some really interesting interview from 2012, but I wanted to bring in one from The Quietus, who had followed Van Etten’s career from the start and caught up with her in 2012. They remarked on the collaborative nature of her work and how musicians sort of warm to her naturally:
“When we spoke in 2009, your career seemed like a series of lucky breaks and serendipitous encounters – and it's kept going that way. You've built up this amazing network of connections with so many musicians: Kyp Malone, Espers, The Antlers, The National, Beirut, The Walkmen, Bon Iver...
Sharon Van Etten: I know, I know. [giggles] It's a trip. I can't even explain it to you. I don't know how it's happened. I don't know how long my music will last or how long people will like it but I'll just keep doing it as long as they listen.
But aside from the music, there's obviously some quality of your personality that people warm to. They tend to take you under their wing. I remember Eric from Great Lake Swimmers saying you were like a little sister to him on tour.
SVE: I feel like I have a lot of older brothers in the world, looking out for me. Do you know the radio station WFMU? There's this DJ there, Jeffrey Davison, who has a show called 'Shrunken Planet'. He was one of the first people to play my music on the radio. We became friends and he invites me over to his house to have dinner with him and his wife, and he plays me records he feels will inspire me. Right before I left for tour – and this is a man in his fifties – he said, "I don't know what it is about you, but everyone just wants to take care of you." I've no idea what it is either but it's nice to know I have them looking out for me”.
There was a five-year gap between Are We There and Remind Me Tomorrow but, in 2014, Van Etten released her fourth album in 2014. It is impressive to think Van Etten released four albums in five years. It is testament to her productivity, drive and popularity. If there is a major difference between her first few albums and Are We There, maybe it is a lighter edge. There is a lot of emotion and darkness through the album, yet there is this sense of hope; some brighter edges and a sense of evolution.
Apart from Remind Me Tomorrow, I think Are We There is my favourite Sharon Van Etten album. It went down a storm with critics and contained some of Van Etten’s best work. The range of moods and sounds on Are We There is astonishing. It is hard to pick a standout track but, in my view, Every Time the Sun Comes Up is the key cut – a wonderful way to end the album. I am going to end with a look at this year’s Remind Me Tomorrow and a couple of reviews/interviews. Whilst Remind Me Tomorrow is Van Etten at her most extraordinary, I really love Are We There. In their review, AllMusic were eager to show some love:
“Are We There's 11 selections also mine her harrowed heart for inspiration, be it the slow-burning portrait of a toxic love/hate romance in "Your Love Is Killing Me" or the obsessed fixation on an absent lover in "Break Me." While there's still a fair amount of heartbreak and pain in the subject matter of the songs, the folky strums and indie rock clatter of Tramp and earlier records have been expanded upon with more inventive musical approaches, leaving the album feeling much brighter, even in its darkest moments. "Taking Chances" is guided by an unexpectedly slinking bassline and minimal drum machine clicks, Van Etten's voice melting like honey over their laid-back foundations before introducing rawkus guitars on the chorus.
Similar instrumentation shows up on "Our Love," a steady drum machine and lonely organ drone setting the stage for the brilliantly arranged multi-tracked harmonies and an indie take on the sophisticated tones of '80s quiet storm R&B. Even when tending toward more familiar rock sounds, the arrangements on Are We There are more considered, colorful, and ornate than ever before. Where previous albums felt a little too anchored to Van Etten's samey guitar changes, here tracks like "Tarifa" explode with sure-footed horn sections, nostalgic Hammond organ, and spirals of anthemic vocal harmonies. Quieter songs like "I Know" and "I Love You But I'm Lost" are driven by piano, leaving lots of space for the vocals to soar, while the cinematic textures and haunted guitar twang of "You Know Me Well" could almost draw comparisons to Lana Del Rey in her more Twin Peaks moments.
The more inventive arrangements and advances in songwriting are an undeniable step forward for Van Etten. While still immersed in songs of emotional ravagement and betrayal, the confidence of her performances and spectrum of sounds represented here suggest a complete graduation from troubled, uncertain roots into a place where she can deliver her songs with a powerful, borderless command”.
The fifth studio album, Remind Me Tomorrow, is sure to be among the best of the best when critics select their favourite albums of 2019. It is definitely in my top-ten and, having experienced Van Etten before listening to her latest album, I was blown away by Remind Me Tomorrow. Released by Jajaguwar back in January, Van Etten’s life and situation had changed since 2014. She wrote the album whilst pregnant with her first child and was attending school to get a degree in Psychology.
She made some acting cameos and, by all means, was keeping pretty busy. If some of Van Etten’s early material was a little dark or troubled, Remind Me Tomorrow seems like a more satisfied and comforting album. Perhaps that was Van Etten’s reaction to impending motherhood and new responsibility; perhaps it was a natural development but, whatever the reason, Remind Me Tomorrow is a revelation. I had to listen to the album a few times before it truly sunk in. There are familiar aspects to be found, but Van Etten explores new lyrical and sonic territory on this album. It is another bold and brilliant step from one of the most interesting and striking songwriters in the world. I have said repeatedly this year how women have dominated the roost – Van Etten’s latest album underlines that with aplomb. This is what The Guardian had to say in their review of Remind Me Tomorrow:
“Van Etten is not alone in her decision to stop strumming and shift to electronic instrumentation instead – it feels as if half the rock and indie acts on the planet have made a similar move over the past few years. But the musician never appears to be jumping on a bandwagon. Instead, this new mode simply gives her stock-in-trade – gorgeous, timeless melodies, lyrical introspection and raw, plaintive vocals – a new gloss, one that veers between a buoyant 80s nostalgia and a more sinister sheen. Songs in the former camp include lead single Comeback Kid, which matches its warm portrait of delinquent adolescence with a cantering breakbeat and stuttering synth line; Malibu, a tribute to late 20th-century youth via the medium of a small red car; and the stupendously catchy, Springsteen-esque Seventeen.
Counterbalancing these instantly memorable, flab-free slices of retro cheer are more obtuse atmospherics: Jupiter 4 is a ghostly love song that recalls Suicide; Memorial Day a fug of eerie Americana. Whether Van Etten is brooding on the present or pining for the good old days, however, the general impression remains the same: this ambitious, arresting album feels like the work of an artist wielding her considerable talents with newfound confidence and conviction”.
There is so much personality, life and cinema on Remind Me Tomorrow. Songs such as Seventeen and Comeback Kid are deeply immersive, and you can imagine the Remind Me Tomorrow songs hanging together as a short film or extended piece. There is more musicianship and compositional input on Remind Me Tomorrow compared to her first couple of albums. I think Van Etten’s voice has strengthened and sounds more nuanced. I have listened to Remind Me Tomorrow a few times over and I pick up something new every time. It is a massive record and one that I urge people to get involved with. With every album, Sharon Van Etten picks up even more glowing and passionate reviews. In their assessment, Pitchfork were full of positivity:
“The most traditionally robust songs on Remind Me Tomorrow are about Van Etten as a teenager, usually a time of confidence that is later revealed to be naivety. “Comeback Kid” has a puffed chest and a sense of ragged pride; the standout “Seventeen” exudes the reckless freedom of standing in the sunroof of a moving car and spreading your arms wide.
t mixes despair for her poor decisions, nostalgia for that headstrong girl, and anxiety over what she would make of her now. “I know what you’re gonna be,” Van Etten taunts at full vocal power: “You’ll crumple it up just to see/Afraid that you’ll be just like me!” She gives no indication of who is right: the teenager disgusted at the thought of growing up and joining the straight world, or herself now, wanting to protect that girl who had no idea what difficulties were to come. What do you attempt to hold onto and let go of?
“I don’t know how it ends,” Van Etten sings dreamily on “Stay,” a reverie of rippling piano and bass that addresses the need for reciprocal support and independence between a mother and her child. It sounds like a resolution, or at least her making peace with how to develop trust when everything can slip away so easily, but the arrangement is still anesthetized, unresolved. Having more to live for, hence more to lose, is rarely soothing. But it’s worth the mess”.
It has been a busy year for Van Etten, and I wonder where 2020 will take her. Not only has she performed at Glastonbury, she has been touring extensively and bringing this wonderful album to the people. Even though she is a new mother, that has not prevented Van Etten hitting the road and reaching the people. Remind Me Tomorrow has been met with so much love and airplay. Almost a year after its release, I am still hearing songs from the radio played. It is a masterful recording and one that I am still investigating.
There have been a lot of interviews this year because, of course, there is this terrific album out and Van Etten’s life has changed significantly. I want to bring in a couple before winding down this feature. Back in January, Van Etten spoke with The Guardian and explained how motherhood has changed her:
“…She nods. “There’s letting someone in for the first time, and acknowledging that’s the person you want to be with the rest of your life. Looking at our child every day and it’s some of our love that we’re eventually going to let roam the world. I feel like every day I’m at my most vulnerable. Even when he’s just hanging out, I swear, I sometimes just spontaneously start crying just looking at him.”
It was motherhood, too, that allowed her to be open to the idea of bringing in a producer rather than controlling every element of the record herself. She chose John Congleton, known for his work with St Vincent, John Grant and Angel Olsen, who lit up when she walked into his studio with a selection of influences that might seem surprising to those steeped in Van Etten’s previous work — Portishead, Suicide, Nick Cave. “I was ready to let go of these songs,” she explains. “I feel a lot of falling in love and settling down and becoming a mother, so much you can’t control, you have to let go. And I feel like the more I let go and trust other people to do the things I need to do, the better off I am and the more I progress as a human being. As soon as I let go, I just feel that I open up as a person.”
These days she doesn’t pick up her notebook as often, but songwriting has come to offer a similar emotional outlet. “When I go sit down and write music, I set up an instrument, and I develop a chord progression and I sing it, and I just hit record and I let it go.” Those early incarnations are often “10-minute meanderings”, which she will set aside to see if they can later be edited down into a song. “And then I’ll put on headphones and I’ll listen to what I was going through,” she says.
After a while she began to realise that as much as it was a source of concern it was also a subject of interest to her: “Why is it that people connect so deeply? And what is it about music? And what is it about communicating that they don’t have it in their lives, but for some reason they can talk to me? Or a song says something that they can’t? It made me realise it’s something I want to figure out, to help people learn how to communicate. So that’s why I took off time to pursue it.”
She has started training as a counsellor at entry level, exploring different kinds of therapy, working out which style suits her best. “I think a big issue for me is whether or not talking about the past is important,” she says. “Because there are different methods where it’s only about the now and only about the future, but I think the past is influential.”
It is impressive hearing Van Etten pledge her time to helping others. So often with musicians we hear about their music and not a lot else. Maybe there is very little chance to give too much what with the demands of music, yet Van Etten is keen to support others. In The Guardian’s interview, it is clear Van Etten can relate to those facing struggles:
She knows she wants to focus on helping young people just leaving home, those who might benefit from therapy – as she did after her parents made it a stipulation of her returning home after her time in Tennessee. “I needed to learn how to communicate what I had been through, and what I was going through, so that could help me navigate what the hell was next. Because I didn’t want medicine, I just wanted to understand. I was getting panic attacks and I was embarrassed about my life.”
There is a lot of detail in Remind Me Tomorrow, but it is a record that rewards your time and attention. I wonder whether Van Etten’s physiological studied, tied with motherhood, took her music in a different direction. We are wrapping up this year and many critics are compiling their list of the best albums so far. Remind Me Tomorrow will surely feature as it comes from an artist who is at the peak of her powers right now.
If you have not experienced Sharon Van Etten’s music, I suggest you start from the beginning and work your way to Remind Me Tomorrow. In the last interview I want to introduce, Van Etten spoke with DIY about the origins of Remind Me Tomorrow and its themes:
“Though named jokingly after the option to postpone a computer update, on a more serious note, Sharon explains that the title of ‘Remind Me Tomorrow’ also comes from the the prioritising of your time that takes place when you figure out what’s important to you. This sense of contemplation over time also runs through the album lyrically, whether from the barking instruction of “don’t look back!” on the chorus of ‘Comeback Kid’ or in the question and then unsure answer of “What is the difference between now and then? I’m not sure” on ‘No-One’s Easy To Love’. ‘Seventeen’ is a look at a younger self (“I see you so uncomfortably alone / I wish I could show you how much you’ve grown”) that asks the questions: what do you hold onto and what do you let go of? And how much of our past is useful or worth remembering in order to live in the present?
It’s a line of thinking Sharon has been mulling over herself over the course of her studies, where she’s currently studying for a degree in psychology and eventually hopes to become a therapist. “There are some therapy styles which focus a lot on the past, some that acknowledge the past but focus on the present and then some which focus on the present whilst making a plan for the future,” she explains.
“I still don’t really know what I would personally want to pursue but I feel like I have a lot of reading to do in that regard, because I’ve learned a lot from experiences that I’ve had in my past but the most progress I’ve had as a human being has been very present and the most anxiety I’ve ever had is by looking too far ahead. Being present is still the centre but I acknowledge the past and I think you have to make peace with it”.
I am sure Sharon Van Etten will be busy through 2020, and there will be festival dates for sure. You can see where she is heading and, if you are nearby, I suggest you go along. It has been a remarkable year for her. Van Etten is a marvellous musicians and songwriter, and someone who inspires so many others. I think her stock will rise even more in years to come and we will come to regard as her iconic. I have included a playlist at the bottom of this feature that collates the finest moments from her career so far. There are so many years ahead of Van Etten; who knows how far she can go! I am going to keep my eyes peeled because, with Sharon Van Etten, the sky’s the limit! Remind Me Tomorrow is the latest release from a global star who has very few equals. When it comes to her and simply stunning music, Sharon Van Etten will go…
ON and on.
ALL UNCREDITED PHOTOS: Sharon Van Etten