Epic

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EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 7   Total Length: 32:12

eMusic Review 0

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Maris Kreizman

Audiobooks Editor

09.20.10
Making anguish sound intoxicating, with her heart more open than closed
2010 | Label: Ba Da Bing Records / Revolver

"Never let myself love like that again," Sharon Van Etten vows over and over on the opening track of her sophomore album. The line feels like both a warning and a promise, but there's too much pathos in her voice to fool anyone — it seems she's still got a habit she should've kicked ages ago. If putting the past behind you is easier said than done, then at least the Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter has become a master at sublimating her obsessions to the best possible effect, making anguish sound intoxicating.

As on her 2009 debut, the centerpiece of Epic is Van Etten's woozy, lovesick vocals (she often sounds like fellow folk goddess Kathleen Edwards), but this time around only the opener is sonically spare and acoustic guitar-driven. Minimalism works well on "A Crime," in which Van Etten annunciates every word to make her confessional lyrics impossible to ignore: "To say the words I want to say to you would be a crime/ To admit I'm still in love with you after all this time." But from there her sound gets bigger and broader, still stark in tone but sumptuous in orchestration, from the insistent percussion that carries "Peace Signs" to the… read more »

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catless

ClubRisiko

A very nice gap filler in a long cat powerless period

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Check out track 5

jeane1

'Don't Do It' is just fantastic, sublime and haunting. The rest is quite folky, nice enough. And sometimes I would just like to read a review that tells me what the music is like, rather than being too clever by half...

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Great Sophmore efffort

BelovedMusic

I've been lucky enough to listen to Sharon Van Etten's music from the time when all she had were a few home recordings floating around. Her work with the Antlers captivated my ears and when she came out with an album not aailable on here I decided to see her live. I wasn't dissapointed. The music is solid the voice is serene and the act is defined. You wont be dissapointed.

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For starters

ricardo222

Check out track 06, a lovely voice, an evocative melody, totally enticing. Go from there.

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Boasting a mere seven songs, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten’s sophomore effort hardly lives up to the lofty promise of its name, but where Epic fails to deliver in size, it more than makes up for in sound. Van Etten possesses one of those rare voices that can make even the weakest material soar, so the decision to open the album with the perfectly serviceable, yet ultimately forgettable, solo heartbreak rant “A Crime” makes sense, as what follows is simply electrifying. Backed by a full traditional rock band and bolstered by weepy lap steels and harmoniums, Van Etten’s full serpentine croon, which falls somewhere between Kristin Hersh, Neko Case, and Brandi Carlile, addresses the usual subjects of failure and longing, but there’s a strange, dark confidence behind all of the self-examination that makes even the most clichéd confessional singer/songwriter utterance feel dangerous. Of the seven tracks, “Peace Signs” with its sinewy verses and pulsing kick drum that threatens to cut loose into a full-on highway jam at any minute (but doesn’t), the languid, reverb-heavy country-rock sleeper “Save Yourself,” and the Jeff Buckley-esque closer, “Love More,” provide the most immediate rewards, but the remaining four cuts (even “A Crime”) are just as hypnotizing once the buzz kicks in. – James Christopher Monger

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Activity

  • 05.23.12 RT @jagjaguwar .@SharonVanEtten's "Tramp" is part of @AmazonMP3's BEST OF 2012 SO FAR list. Buy now for $2.99. Wowza! http://t.co/6mkHhUKB
  • 05.21.12 RT @KomediaBrighton Last few tickets for Sharon Van Etten tonight, available here http://t.co/o84LIDBs
  • 05.20.12 RT @Nath_Brudenell TONIGHT >> SHARON VAN ETTEN & Marisa Anderson>> BRUDENELL >> limited Tickets available on the door >> @sharonvanetten
  • 05.18.12 So nice meeting you, John! RT @johnkennedy_xfm Next up on X-posure @xfm @xfmmanchester @sharonvanetten session & interview!
  • 05.17.12 I wonder what she's saying... http://t.co/aCfNi17H
  • 05.12.12 RT @tom_ravenscroft @sharonvanetten guest mix about to begin on BBC 6 Music. WICK. http://t.co/BW2J84RB
  • 05.10.12 RT @BankRobberMusic Season finale of Secret Circle has @sharonvanetten "We Are Fine" Tune in to CW at 9pm. @jagjaguwar http://t.co/yCB0urx0
  • 05.09.12 I'm singing w/ Heather Woods Broderick tonight at Rock Shop @8 if you're in the hood. @Doug_Keith follows!
  • 05.09.12 So cool! RT @seanmortdesign @Fugscreens Check out the video of me stamping the @sharonvanetten poster - http://t.co/ScOAOcq8
  • 05.01.12 SVE is part of BAM's Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Fest. She's playing with Walkmen, Twin Shadow, Jhereck Bischoff. Details: http://t.co/bCHI4dw9
  • 04.29.12 New York, we're coming home! Thanks to everyone that came out to our shows! Mike Birbiglia is making us laugh all the way home. @birbigs
  • 04.28.12 Hey Pittsburgh! Our last show w/ @flockofdimes is at Carnegie Lecture Hall tonight! Come witness and party down!