“Istarted playing open mics when I went to college, but then I took a break,” VanEtten explains. “My boyfriend at the time wasn’t very supportive of my musicand didn’t think I was good enough to perform, so I had to hide it from him.From age 19 to about 24, I just wrote a lot, but it wasn’t until I left Tennessee to move back home to Jerseythat I began playing out again.”
Thesparse folk songs she amassed during her long silent period make up her 2009album, Because I Was In Love, arecord filled with barely veiled references to Van Etten’s now well-estrangedex. “I didn’t want to make the songs too specific, but sometimes it’s hard notto,” she concedes.
Butthough Van Etten’s songs were born of personal experience, she’s too subtle ofa songwriter to fall back on autobiographical narratives. Instead she writes invague, simple sketches, and resists painting her unnamed ex as a straightvillain. Her songs suggest a willingness to move on, and even to offerabsolution.
“WhenI start writing, I’m usually coming from a sad place, but I try to avoidwriting anything too journalistic, because I feel I went through that phase asa kid,” Van Etten says. “I try to reflect a lot when I can. That’s important tome: I want to be honest. If I’m writing about something bad that happened tome, I want to admit my own blame in it, or make it clear that I’m OK with itnow. I never want to make these songs completely one sided.”
VanEtten’s lyrics read like a list of assertions she wishes she would have made.“The moral of the story is don't walk away again/ To find a betterconversation,” she reprimands her ex on “Consolation Prize.” On “Much More ThanThat” she pleads, “please don’t take me lightly,” vowing that “one day I'll bea better writer.” In that song, she shares a seemingly tender moment with herboyfriendtheir feet touchbut the affection only reminds her of howdiscouraging he is outside the bedroom.
Moldedby years of high school choir, Van Etten’s mournful soprano invites faircomparisons to sadcore sirens like Chan Marshall and Julie Doiron. Even at hermost dejected, though, she never comes across like the broken doll thosesongwriters sometimes do. Somber as they may be, her songs are ultimatelydeclarations strength. “I’m a tornado,” she sings, “You are the fences thatwill fall but still surround me.”
Van Etten’s songwriting career quickly hit its stride once she moved from ruralJersey to Brooklyn, under the encouragement ofTV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, whose brother she went to high school with.Malone shared some bills with her and introduced her to the right people andvenues. Within the last year, Van Etten has made a name for herself outside of Brooklyn, through word-of-mouth buzz behind Because I Was in Love and a fortuitousspotlight-stealing guest spot on The Antler’s breakout album Hospice.
Hersisn’t the type of dramatic, overnight success story you could draft ascreenplay about, but for a songwriter who once faced a future of beingforbidden to perform, it’s a major victory.
“I’ma lot better off than I was all those years ago,” Van Etten says. “I feellucky. In Brooklyn, I’ve met some of thenicest, most genuine, supportive people I’ve known in my entire life. Before Imoved, I was really scared about the transition, but I’ve grown a lot moreconfident since moving here. I’m hoping that my music’s become a little morepositive, too.”
Sharon Van Ettenheadlines a 9 p.m. show at the Cactus Club with Daniel Knox on Wednesday, Jan.20.
