Sharon Van Etten

2024 press. LTD Black, Grey, and Silver Tri-Colour Split Vinyl Edition. Are We There turns ten this year and reasserts itself as a one of her most powerful and timeless collections. It is clear from the opening chords in the first song, “Afraid of Nothing”, that we are witnessing a new awareness, a sign of Van Etten in full stride, writing, producing, and performing from a place that seems almost mythical, were it not so touchable and real. Always direct, and never shying away even from the most personally painful narratives, many of the songs deal with seemingly impossible decisions, anticipation, and then resolution. She sings of the nature of desire, memory, of being lost, emptiness, of promises and loyalty, fear and change, of healing and the true self, violence and sanctuary, waiting, of silence. Amidst all that truly brutal honestly, Van Etten finds moments of levity, as she always does. “Every Time the Sun Comes Up” started out as a lark but lifts the album at its close, completes the world she’s let us into, and resets us gently for whatever might follow. It has, since then, become an indelible staple of Van Etten’s live shows.