[rating=8.00]
Full of life and daring direction, early signs of Remind Me Tomorrow punch through as an ecstatic, emboldened statement for Sharon van Etten then a natural step forward in her music career. Unusually spirited and lively musicianship is only the dressing when taking in account it still has the same vulnerable aesthetic delivered with every word. This is not to say Sharon is some puppy dog that hardly can stand the pushback. In fact, her own words state how the album is a reflection of her own internal security and self-reflection of her past struggles. What is given is something hopeful and surprisingly unexpected from beginning to end.
It is difficult to mask the anticipation of what you believe will be presented and what actually is on Remind Me Tomorrow – this is the case for nearly every track – but more so is this nervousness that eventually envelopes when a warped sense of what has become of Sharon van Etten’s musical identity. She pierces those notions. The usual folk style crawls through underneath a mask of heavy pop elements than ever attempted before. Her last release – I Don’t Want to Let You Down EP – still showcased that mentality, but in that three-year span, her confidence in risk-taking and experimentation has really reached a breakpoint.
The opening track “I Told You Everything” has a quaint stripped down instrumentation that sounds more akin to previous material. What is more impressive is how organic it all feels, and in reality, this has become a second skin for the young musician. Perhaps this is why Remind Me Tomorrow isn’t a reach in terms of a swing and a miss. In a way, the album uses soundscapes to tell the similar story of heartbreak and encouragement, the key difference is these soundscapes presented are more heavily textured with a multitude of genre influences than ever before, yet she sounds just as authentic emotionally. Her vocal delivery has always been her strength because it maintains a sense of continuity on an album that dares to push the boundaries of what she has ever ventured, additionally it naturally solidifies the creeping doubts that she has jumped the proverbial shark. This is an album that marks her first foray into indie pop realm, but you wouldn’t know it until you reach the end when she loses focus on how to keep presenting this new direction with confidence.
Remind Me Tomorrow has a propensity to creep out an illustrious edge of electronic-induced pop arrangements but it is always pulled in with an authentic type of lyricism that can’t be taken lightly. Tracks such as “No One’s Easy to Love” mixes a macabre bass reverb that eventually tops on its side and rekindles from a triumphant keyboard crescendo with every chorus repetitions – it is a sign that she has not lost her way in this storm of change and is able to maneuver without stumbling into mediocrity.
This is not an easy album to digest for longtime fans of her previous material, but given time, it should those that are willing to understand Sharon’s aim – with her own internal growth, so has her need to express her breakthrough sonically. Are We There may very well be the mountain top for her vision of indie folk. It was a natural progression of her discography, something that was a full-circle realization of burgeoning flashes of brilliance on works like Because I Was in Love and Tramp, but this peak would only lead to a monochromatic nostalgia. Much like “Jupiter 4” fits a familiar narrative and projects a sense of disparity, so does this album push her venom of heartbreak unto us sonically. A mix of highs and lows, pains and struggles, joys and triumphs.
