
If a lemon and smokes breakfast yields songs like hers, I'm in.
Happy New Year! I’ve been in Colombia hearing some remarkable music that I’ll be writing about soon. I mention it now as an excuse for the delay in mentioning a favorite album of 2010, Sharon Van Etten’s, “Epic.”
The singer/songwriter genre is particularly tricky one. The lyrically gifted ones can detail a personal struggle for insight from anguish that summons us to reflect on our own lives . Those less talented confuse earnestness with relevance or self-absorption with awareness. On “Epic”, Sharon Van Etten hits an artistic grand slam. Listen and learn, kids.
On each track of Epic, Von Etten’s vocals are front and center, her evocative lyrical tales supplanted occasionally by echo-laden ambient vocal sounds and a smattering of drums, reed sounds, pedal steel, and bass. Every element frames the songs beautifully. The entire album is testament to the powerful reach of sonic simplicity and outstanding songwriting.
Can’t wait to hear her music live when she plays Lincoln Hall in Chicago.
Check out: Sister Don’t Mind
Record label: Badabing Records
Interview: Sharon Van Etten Village Voice