Sharon Van Etten's new album 'Remind Me Tomorrow is a mix of highs and lows [Music Review]

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The songwriter's taken a different approach to her latest album

Chris Gillett |
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Photo: Facebook/Sharon Van Etten

A lot has happened since Sharon Van Etten’s last album, Are We There, in 2014. The songwriter has appeared on a popular Netflix show, gone back to university, and had a baby.

So it’s no surprise that she’s taken a different approach to her latest release, Remind Me Tomorrow.

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The standout track is Jupiter 4, with its booming slow drums cutting through the dark and chaotic atmosphere created by a heavy sub bass and brooding drone. Hands has a similar aesthetic, with a big, distorted chorus.

But there are brighter tracks, too. Lead single Comeback Kid has a thumping beat, and she reels off the lines, “Hey you’re the comeback kid/See me look away/I’m the runaway/I’m recovering,” as if she were fronting The Killers.

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Seventeen has a similar vibe, with Van Etten writing a love letter to her younger self over a simple, driving country rock track, evoking the same kind of storytelling as Bruce Springsteen.

This is a solid album; but in gaining so many positive life experiences, she’s lost some of the emotional impact of her earlier records, meaning the gut-wrenching moments we’ve come to expect from this comeback kid are a little more sparing.

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