Sharon Van Etten – Are We There (2014)

On my first ever trip to Manchester a few years ago I visited the legendary record shop Piccadilly Records there. They make this booklet every year for their favourite 100 albums of the year. I thought they had some terrific stuff in there, so I decided to listen through that list of albums. One of those albums was Sharon Van Etten's 2012 album Tramp. I was really impressed by this album and bought it straight away on a CD. Little did I know back then, that I had actually already seen Sharon Van Etten live. She was opening for The National at the Culture House in Helsinki a couple of years earlier. One of my friends pointed this out and I remembered being really impressed by the opening act but had completely forgotten her name. This following album I bought on vinyl from Rough Trade in Brooklyn, New York.



I sort of prefer Tramp to this album. Maybe it's again because I heard Tramp first. I tend to like the albums that I've heard first from any given artist. It might also be that Are We There takes a bit more time to really hit in. The songs are not as clearly catchy as the songs on Tramp. There's similar kind of dreamlike melancholy and hypnotism as on Mazzy Star's 90's albums. You really need to know the songs first before you can fully enjoy them.

I haven't really watched Sharon Van Etten's music videos before. I don't know why, but I just haven't. Now, the first video that I found on Youtube from this album is the amazingly haunting song Taking Chances. In the video, Van Etten is turning around tarot cards and singing to the camera. Her intense expression is quite hypnotic and she looks really cool in her gothic appearance. There are some strange sequences in the video where many hands of men sweep her face. Watching this video definitely made me want to see more videos from her.

Are We There is still a very melancholic and dark album, but somehow I still feel it's a bit brighter than its predecessor. There are more electronic elements in her music as well. It's really not that electronic, but the instruments have more effect in them. Van Etten has a great voice. Her voice works perfectly when the melodies are melancholic. There's some quality in her voice that makes it work much better when the tone is dark and sad.

The album starts with almost ambient like calmness in the song Afraid of Nothing. This song also probably shows her range the best. For as depressingly named song as Your Love Is Killing Me, the melodies in this song are quite hopeful and bright. I guess this contrast must be intentional. Our Love  and Break Me have some electronic beats on the background and it makes these songs sound a lot like Beach House. Tariff has some excellent saxophones and the song itself has a bit more Americana sound with the subtle rock organ sounds and clean electric guitars. I Love You But I'm Lost is a beautiful piano ballad that really compliments Van Etten's vocals. You Know Me Well is probably my favourite song on the album. The chorus lifts all the hairs in my hands up from sheer beauty. I Know shows the power of Van Etten's vocals. The simple piano chords on the background make me think of Adele for some reason. The ending song Every Time the Sun Comes Up sounds hopeful if you just listen to the melodies and sounds, but the lyrics are maybe a bit more melancholic.

Sharon Van Etten is an extremely cool singer-songwriter that makes personal and beautiful music that I think deserves all the attention it has received in the recent years. I think you really need to listen to her music carefully to learn all the little quirks in there and to fully appreciate her sounds.

Listen to the album on Spotify.