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 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”
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!
