release date: Jan. 18, 2019
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: John Congleton
label: Jagjaguwar - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "I Told You Everything" - 2. "No One's Easy to Love" - 4. "Comeback Kid" - 5. "Jupiter 4" - 6. "Seventeen" - 7. "Malibu" - 10. "Stay"
5th studio album by Sharon Van Etten follows nearly 5 years after its predecessor and is produced by star-producer John Congleton who has worked with Erykah Badu, David Byrne, Lana Del Rey, Jens Lekman, Modest Mouse, Sigur Rós and St. Vincent - to mention but a few. Stylistically, Van Etten doesn't generally release a new album like the former, it seems. Here, she has moved away from the alt.country codes and instead moved into the crowded territory of indie pop and synthpop. It's still also a singer / songwriter release, which also makes it unmistakably Van Etten. Her fine mellow (singing) tone overshadows stylistic changes, which dwells on slow repetitive rhythms but also more vibrant quirkiness that in some ways have her share DNA with St. Vincent - though just slightly enough to make the comparison and at the same time, too little to call it similar. Van Etten is still one of a kind, and although it may not be up there with her great Are We There from 2014, this is another fine album from her warm hands.
Remind Me showcases Van Ettens great potential as someone to pay attention to. It has been lauded as one of the best album releases of the year, and she doesn't hesitate out new angles and styles on an album that puts her closer to St. Vincent than ever before. I find it refreshing 'though I don't find it up there alongside her great 2014 album, which is her clearly so far best album.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, 👍NME, Rolling Stone, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]
