The Needle Drop

sharon van etten

Sharon Van Etten - "Your Love Is Killing Me"

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Singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten and her band hammer out a loud but patient ballad on "Your Love Is Killing Me." Without doing it intentionally--I don't think--the instrumentation on this one works more like a drone than it does indie or folk rock.

Sharon kicks things off with a distant drum beat, twang-y guitar leads, and some somber keys. Everything just builds, builds, and builds from there. The movement of the song is subtle, but it continues to grow more and more intense as it draws to a close, slowing the progression down a bit on occasion.

"Burn my skin so I can feel you," Sharon calls out, lining that lyric up with a series of other contradictions that point out just how flawed this "love" she's speaking of is. Sharon's voice, like usual, is incredibly powerful, beautiful, and delivered with an immense amount of conviction.

Look for Sharon's next album, Are We There, via Jagjaguwar on May 27th.

Sharon Van Etten - "Every Time The Sun Comes Up"

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No holds barred on this new Sharon Van Etten track. With some elongated, expressive vocal melodies, I think she's delivering some of her most straightforward lyricism yet. The spacious instrumentation complements her confident vocal delivery fantastically, and the chorus on this thing flourishes beautifully with vocal harmonies bright, shimmering guitars.

Look for Sharon's new record, Are We There, on May 27th via Jagjaguwar.