Sharon Van Etten

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4...according to our Phil on Thu 16 Sep, 2010.

I've heard this a few times and it's totally got under my skin. It's weird how some singer-songwriter stuff just connects with you and others don't. I find it's largely pretty samey music but occasionally something will come along which does it for me. Though it's not all as straight forward as guitar and vocals as there's drums, piano, lap steel and a trio of backing vocalists including one Meg Baird of Espers. I think what appeals is she's just a great songwriter and she's got a gorgeous voice. She sounds just like someone and it's totally evading me and doing my head in. It'll come back to me..... It veers into country rock territory at times and then she'll disappear into some sort of drifty Low / Mazzy Star-esque moment and before you know it you press play again and you're hooked. I'm not alone as Bon Iver and The National are fans and have covered tracks live by her. Excellent stuff!

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Sharon Van Etten came to Brooklyn via Jersey via Tennessee via Jersey. Along the way, she sang in choirs, rejected her school's music program, worked at an all-ages venue, trained as a sommelier and got a full time job at a record label. She music to grandiose luminosity. She supplements guitar and vocals with drums, piano, lap steel and a trio of backing vocalists--Meg Baird (Espers), Cat Martino and Jessica Larrabee (She Keeps Bees)--for a fully realized album that astounds as it elucidates, disturbs as it soothes. The final track, "Love More," has already been covered live in a collaborative effort by Bon Iver and The National. Since her last album, Van Etten has sung on The Antlers' Hospice and performed with them at Radio City Music Hall, sung improv on the Mike Reed Trio's upcoming album, recorded backup vocals for Swedish pop-star Anna Ternheim, appeared on the recent Esopus Magazine compilation and collaborated with Megafaun (check YouTube!); she will soon appear on a soundtrack for the film The Builder along with Bon Iver and Phosphorescent, and has a 7-inch coming out this summer on Polyvinyl. After years of playing repeatedly around New York, Van Etten is preparing for a series of tours that will take her through Europe and the United States. A full band will be realizing Epic live.

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