The first lyrics that Sharon Van Etten sings on her new album are “Sitting at the bar, I told you everything / You said, ‘Holy shit, you almost died.’” Her singing is framed by harsh, echoing piano notes that are joined by a sharp drumbeat and a fuzzy, discordant bass line. “I Told You Everything,” although it does not go into specifics about its writer almost dying, is a startling tale that is almost like a short story in its restraint. And that’s just the first song.
Remind Me Tomorrow is Sharon Van Etten’s first album in five years; between this album and her 2014 release, Are We There, she’s been showing up on TV shows such as Netflix’s The OA (she also provided that haunting, a cappella version of “What a Wonderful World” in the show’s first season) and Twin Peaks: The Return. Remind Me Tomorrow also adds a new instrument to Van Etten’s musical arsenal: the synthesizer. Van Etten started messing around with a Jupiter 4 synth that belonged to Michael Cera—the two shared a practice space—and loved the sound so much that she named one of the album’s best songs after the instrument. (That Michael Cera, GEORGE MICHAEL BLUTH HIMSELF, shared a space with Van Etten may be my new favorite bit of music trivia.)
It is tough for me to pick a favorite song from this album; is it “No One’s Easy To Love” with its synthesizer-heavy trip hop beat? No, it’s “Comeback Kid,” based on the number of times I have pressed the back button to listen to it again! Wait, “Jupiter 4” sounds so foreboding for a love song! “Seventeen” is Van Etten’s Springsteen moment and it is AMAZING. “Stay” is gorgeous and a near-perfect last track. Then again, they might all be my favorites—and this is coming from a person who used to think that Van Etten’s 2012 album Tramp was the best thing she would ever release (that is, until Are We There came out and made me say, “No, THIS is clearly the best Sharon Van Etten album!”).
Calling this the best Sharon Van Etten album seems a little premature, especially since her body of work is of such high quality; a lot of Remind Me Tomorrow is synthesizer-heavy, so whether you enjoy it might hinge on whether or not you like the synthesizer. The synths used here do not sound 1980s-throwback at all—Van Etten wisely uses the instrument(s) to create texture and unexpected arrangements around her voice, rather than letting the synth crowd her out of her usual style. Remind Me Tomorrow is a layered masterpiece that demands repeat listens; it expands Van Etten’s musical language in a particularly subtle way that is also compelling. To get the full experience, I recommend listening to this album with a good pair of headphones—and, if the spirit moves you, to get up and dance to “Comeback Kid.”