- After almost five years, Sharon Van Etten has returned with new album, Remind Me Tomorrow and it has proved to be well worth the wait. 2014 predecessor Are We There was critically lauded and somewhat of a breakthrough album for the singer-songwriter who had previous albums of similar quality yet dissimilar success. Van Etten’s songs are tinged with melancholy and her voice is often sorrowful and plaintive, which garners a likeness to The National and Leonard Cohen, however there are also glimpses of joy and euphoria. Despite keeping this aura of dolour, Remind Me Tomorrow brings a change of direction for Van Etten in the timbre of her sound. Unlike her previous albums, Remind Me Tomorrow is bereft of acoustic guitars, instead opting for electronic sounds. The result is reminiscent of acts like Daughter and Radiohead but the charm of Van Etten’s songwriting is still omnipresent.
Remind Me Tomorrow is an album that flows perfectly from beginning to end and its track ordering is impeccable. The album begins cinematically with piano chords and Van Etten singing, “I told you everything / You said, “holy shit” / You almost died” in true Van Etten form before the album begins to take shape. Next up is an apocalyptic pop song, No One’s Easy to Love, featuring a droning bass line -that sounds like a supercharged hive of bees- and tense piano arpeggios. Weird synthesisers pervade, from third track Memorial Day to fifth track, Jupiter 4 which is actually named after a type of synthesiser and the result is strangely mellifluous. Although this is new terrain for Van Etten, the experiment pays dividends.
The feel of Remind Me Tomorrow is perhaps best encapsulated in Seventeen, which sounds like an industrial anthem with Springsteen-like, nostalgic lyrics. Far removed from her teenage years, Van Etten is at the top of her game. Well into her career, she has produced a brilliant album that is flawless from start to finish. Even though it is early days, it feels safe to say that this will belong towards the top of many album-of-the-year lists of 2019. If you haven’t listened, do your ears a favour!
- Jonathan Cloumassis.