On Remind Me Tomorrow, Sharon Van Etten’s latest album, the most striking difference from her past offerings is the use of synthesizers rather than guitar.
It’s a bold and risky approach and yet it works throughout the album. This is still unmistakably a Sharon Van Etten creation.
The album’s songs began as Van Etten demos that were handed over to John Congleton, a sought-after producer and engineer who has worked with St. Vincent, War on Drugs and many others.
“I needed to step back and work with a producer,” Van Etten says in her publicity material.
So she gave Congleton two songs — Jupiter 4 and Memorial Day — to begin, and gave him a little direction. “I gave him Suicide, Portishead and Nick Cave’s Skeleton Tree as references, and he got excited,” she said.
The result? One of the best albums this year.
All the Young Punks 