Sharon Van Etten - We've Been Going About This All Wrong [CD]

"Sharon Van Etten has always been the kind of artist who helps people make sense of the world around them, and

her sixth album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, concerns itself with how we feel, mourn, and reclaim

our agency when we think the world - or at least, our world - might be falling apart. How do we protect the things

most precious to us from destructive forces beyond our control? How do we salvage something worthwhile when

it seems all is lost? And if we can’t, or we don’t, have we loved as well as we could in the meantime? Did we try

hard enough? In considering these questions and her own vulnerability in the face of them, Van Etten creates a

stunning meditation on how life’s changes can be both terrifying and transformative. We’ve Been Going About This

All Wrong articulates the beauty and power that can be rescued from our wreckages.

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is as much a reflection on how we manage the ending of metaphorical

worlds as we do the ending of actual ones: the twin flames of terror and unrelenting love that light up with

motherhood; navigating the demands of partnership when your responsibilities have changed; the loss of center

and safety that can come with leaving home; how the ghosts of our past can appear without warning in our present;

feeling helpless with the violence and racism in the world; and yes, what it means when a global viral outbreak

forces us to relinquish control of the things that have always made us feel so human, and seek new forms of

connection to replace them.

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is intensely personal, exploring themes like motherhood, love, fear,

what we can and can’t control, and what it means to be human in a world that is wracked by so much trauma. The

track “Home To Me,” written about Van Etten’s son, uses the trademark “dark drums” of her previous work to

invoke the sonic impression of a heartbeat. Synths grow in intensity, evoking the passing of time and the terror of

what it means to have your child move inevitably toward independence, wanting to hold on to them tightly enough

to protect them forever. In contrast, “Come Back” reflects on the desire to reconnect with a partner. Recalling all

the optimism of love felt in its infancy, Van Etten begins with the plain beauty of just her voice and a guitar, building

the arrangement alongside the call to “come back” to anyone who has lost their way, be it from another person or

from themselves. Hovering between darkness and light, “Born” is an exploration of the self that exists when all

other labels - mother, partner, friend - are stripped back.

Unlike Van Etten’s previous albums, there will be no songs off the album released prior to the record coming

out. The ten tracks on We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong are designed to be listened to in order, all at once,

so that a much larger story of hope, loss, longing and resilience can be told. This is, in itself, a subtle act of control,

but in sharing these songs it remains an optimistic and generous one. There is darkness here but there is light too,

and all of it is held together by Van Etten’s uncanny ability to both pierce the hearts of her listeners and make them

whole again. Things are not dark, she reminds us, only darkish."