Robin Pecknold- Song of the week

Photo by Andy Sheppard

So after some cryptic tweets, Robin Pecknold, lead-singer of folk group Fleet Foxes, announced that he was "legitimately single for the first time in like literally ten years"  after he broke up with his long term girlfriend. Now don't worry I'm not going to turn into NME on you and only report flat journalism like the personal lives of musicians, however it was after these messages (that have since been deleted along with Pecknold's account and the link he put up on soundcloud) that he posted a song he had written lamenting the relationship. 'Olivia, In a Separate Bed' is a heartbreaking song, a simple demo with nothing other than a guitar and Pecknold's haunting Paul Simon-esqe voice which sounds more wounded and pained than ever before. Throughout the song Pecknold indicates at problems in the relationship,
"I chose the love of strangers, I chose the fickle crowd,
And the woman I wagered, won't look at me right now,
I know I've been like a house cat,
Give me this, give me that..."
While also still professing his loe for Olivia,
"Olivia I still love you, and I know I will 'til I die"
Lets all collectively weep and hope the best for Robin and his love.

Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

Tramp seems like a bold yet appropriate name for Sharon Van Etten’s album; made at a time when she was basically leading the life of a homeless person, crashing on friend’s couches and touring whenever she wasn’t recording at the home studio of producer, Aaron Dessner, of The National.

At such a tumultuous period in her life, you would only expect for this to show in Van Etten’s work. What you find instead is a young musician very grounded, her record is essentially a break up album like her debut record, Because I Was In Love, and 2010’s Epic, which were simple folk albums based around her stunning voice and her guitar, with the help of Dessner and other indie stars however, such as Matt Barrick from The Walkmen, Zach Condon of Beirut and Jenn Wasner from Wye Oak, she has expanded her sound.

From understated works of art to rich intensity, Tramp is certainly the most confident piece that she has released and there is still the same darkness and strain to be found in her lyrics. In ‘Give Out’, Van Etten sings:

“I'm biting my lip
as confidence is speaking to me.
I loosen my grip from my palm
and put it on your knee.
In my way, I say
you're the reason why I'll move to the city,
you're why I'll need to leave”

As frank and tense as the songs might be however, Van Etten manages to show hope, Serpents for example, the album’s only ‘rock’ track, is an epic anthem orchestrated by Dessner and his twin brother Bryce with winding melodies and a gutsy slide guitar, lyrically however Van Etten doesn’t venture too far from the angst,

“You enjoy sucking on dreams
so I will fall asleep with someone other than you
I had a thought you would take me seriously”

It isn’t easy listening then rather cathartic listening to hear these vignettes of a broken relationship being told through such an innocent and fragile yet commanding voice, Sharon Van Etten tells the break up story from the female point of view without being the damsel in distress which artists such as Lana Del Rey have made so fashionable.

The intimacy conducted throughout this album is like a private, confessional conversation that Van Etten has chosen to share only with you, and believe me; you should feel privileged to hear such stories!