Sharon Van Etten’s latest album begins with the retelling of a story. Accompanied by a simple keyboard, the first track sets up the theme for the rest of the tracks on the album, with Van Etten emotionally opening up to the audience. The result is a compilation of ten tracks of various sonic sounds, from dreamy synths to fuzzy guitars, all bound by the thread of Van Etten’s evocative lyricism. This is an album you listen to in the dark, lying on your bed, eyes closed, mind far away.
Infused with anecdotes and personal reflections, Sharon Van Etten’s songs are not rooted in poetic fonder. She speaks plainly. She recalls stories as they are, without any addition of pretentious glamour. Her lyrics are quiet revelations, dripping with maturity and honesty.
A lot of the songs revolve around heartbreak and new loves. But Van Etten is not a passive subject. She questions her companions, prompting her audience to participate in some healthy introspection: “There was a question you asked, ‘Is your father a man?’ / No, but I think you should do ask of yourself the same.” She is didactic, perhaps almost wishful, giving relationship recommendations: “Listen until you know what to say / Use loving words and be gentle and kind / Open your mind and it’s easy to find where I am.” She sings to different generations: to her new child in “Stay” and to a stubborn teenager in “Seventeen.”
At the end of the day, whether she has fulfilled her wish of wanting to “make sense of it all,” is not for us to decide. Instead, as an audience, we can sway in the dark and open our minds to embracing our stories and our emotions. Much of Van Etten’s previous four albums revolved around the theme of abusive relationships, and there are decided benefits to using art as a strategy for healing traumas. What distinguishes Remind Me Tomorrow from her other work is embracing the mess that comes with being human.
In comparison to her previous work, Remind Me Tomorrow exists in a new realm of maturity. No longer do romantic experiences fully shape the songs, and, accordingly, Van Etten herself. Rather, it is Van Etten who is in control of her narrative, becoming more than the sum of her relationships. She is no longer a vulnerable, heart-broken girl singing about clichéd breakups and toxic relationships. She is a person, taking a long, deep breath and freely divulging the thoughts swirling around her brain. Her songwriting, layered over an 80s-inspired backdrop, makes for a deeply reflective and highly authentic work of art.
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