Sharon Van Etten: 'My Brain Can't Process How Anyone Knows Who The Hell I Am'

Sharon Van Etten has made a mark on audiences since releasing her tender debut album, Because I Was In Love, in 2009. Epic followed a year later and marked her breakthrough: last year, artists like Big Red Machine (Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner), Fiona Apple, Lucinda Williams, Courtney Barnett, and more came together to celebrate the album's tenth anniversary with epic Ten.

The impact of artists Van Etten adores covering her songs isn't lost on her. "I was and still am moved that so many of my favourite artists wanted to give their time to cover my songs to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of epic. Whenever I make a record and have the luxury to look back, I usually find myself thinking that my songs may not stand the test of time," she tells The Music. Especially with her earlier material, the Every Time The Sun Comes Up singer notes. 

"I make what I love, but who's to say it means anything? To hear these new versions in this light makes me feel more connected to this world, not the one I left behind, and feel connected to a music community I felt so disconnected from during the pandemic. Hearing musicians I loved growing up perform my songs made me feel accepted, and hearing younger artists perform my songs made me feel more relevant. And overall, I just felt the love."

Van Etten isn't returning to Australia to promote epic Ten; she's here showcasing her sixth record that she put out earlier this year, We've Been Going About This All Wrong. The album is lyrically grandiose and intimate in musical scope. Van Etten cites the fear and internal processing she was doing in the darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic for the album's lyrics.

When Mistakes' first riff popped out, she was jamming with her son. "He was on drums, and I was on synth, and it made me want to sing like Debbie Harry," she laughs, recalling the song's best line: "I dance like Elaine, but my baby takes me to the floor". Does Van Etten actually dance like Elaine Benes? She's not sure, but she does tell, "I love to dance but have been cited by a few friends as being bad or awkward (in a loving way). I am not a great dancer, but I am learning to embrace the awkwardness, be myself, let go, and be at peace with my friends in that way. As long as I don't hurt anyone..."

Van Etten has been touring with her son since 2019. "He loves music, and we have already started a playlist of all his favourite songs, which run the gamut from Tom Waits to The Cramps to John Williams to Michael Jackson to The Minions Movie," she notes. A proud mum, the first artist her son ever air-drummed to was New Zealand's Aldous Harding. "He is overwhelmed with crowds (like his mama) but loves playing the drums, and I am so curious where that will lead him," she says.

Opening for Sharon Van Etten in Brisbane and Melbourne is Melbourne's own BATTS, AKA Tanya Batt, who joined the American singer last time she was in Australia in 2019. "Tanya is an absolute light. She is so kind and open and not afraid of digging in emotionally," Van Etten says. The two worked on a song together, Blue, which appears on BATTS' new album, The Nightline. 

"Tanya is very real and down to earth, and her voice is crystalline and direct. Even with the pandemic and time zones, we could communicate and share ideas remotely, and she was so accepting of my ideas. I feel so lucky to have met her and that she wanted to work together. I would do it again in a heartbeat."

Van Etten recently worked with another beloved singer-songwriter: Angel Olsen, on their duet, Like I Used To, which calls back to ABBA's SOS music video. "I started writing that song in New York, relistened in LA during lockdown and tried finishing it, only to find that I had an insecurity I was ripping off Angel because the way I was singing it reminded me of her - so I just wanted to give it to her," she begins. When Van Etten sent the song to Olsen, though, "she offered to sing on it, or help with lyrics or make it a duet." Humbled by Olsen's response, the duo created musical perfection.

Sydney Opera House will host Sharon Van Etten tomorrow night, an experience she cannot believe is really happening. "First of all, to be able to tour Australia is such an incredible thing. My brain can't process how anyone knows who the hell I am, let alone knows any of my music, all the way out there," she starts. 

"Not only is the Opera House an absolutely stunning piece of architecture that I have been lucky enough to even walk by the first year I ever stepped foot in Sydney in 2012 when there was a giant rubber ducky in the water and the whole scene was so surreal, to begin with, but the history of bands that have performed before me is staggering. I hope I do this space justice."

Watch Sharon Van Etten do the Sydney Opera House and other landmark Aussie venues justice on tour. Tickets are available on her website.

SHARON VAN ETTEN

2022 AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Thursday 1 December - Sydney Opera House

Saturday 3 December - The Tivoli, Brisbane (with BATTS)

Monday 5 December - Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth (with Banjo Lucia)

Tuesday 6 December - Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth (with Banjo Lucia)

Thursday 8 December - Northcote Theatre, Melbourne (with BATTS)

Friday 9 December - Northcote Theatre, Melbourne (with BATTS)

Saturday 10 December - Meredith Festival