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Apr 06, 2022 By Mark Redfern Photography by Michael Schmelling

Sharon Van Etten has announced a new album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, and shared a trailer for the album. No new songs from the album have been shared and it doesn’t feature her recent singles “Porta” and “Used to It.” We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is due out May 6 via Jagjaguwar. Below, check out the album’s trailer, followed by its tracklist and cover art, as well Van Etten’s upcoming tour dates, including the upcoming The Wild Hearts tour this summer with Angel Olsen and Julien Baker.

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is the follow-up to Remind Me Tomorrow, which came out in 2019 via Jagjaguwar.

A press release sets up the new album in dramatic phrasing: “Sharon Van Etten has always been the kind of artist who helps people make sense of the world around them, and We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong concerns itself with the questions we ask ourselves when we think the world—or at least, our world—might be ending. Have we loved as well as we could? Did we try hard enough? How do we protect the things most precious to us from destructive forces beyond our control? And how do we salvage something worthwhile when it seems all is lost? In considering these questions and her own vulnerability in the face of them, Van Etten has created a stunning meditation on how life’s changes can be both terrifying and transformative. We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong articulates the beauty and power that can be rescued from our wreckages.”

Van Etten co-produced the album with Daniel Knowles and recorded and engineering most of it herself in a new custom built studio in her family’s home in Los Angeles. Van Etten plays guitar, synthesizers, piano, drum machine, wurlitzer, keys, and more on the album, but was also joined by her regular touring band of Jorge Balbi on drums, Devon Hoff on bass, and live musical director Charley Damski on synthesizers and guitars.

Van Etten seems to not be putting out any pre-release singles from the album. “I wanted to approach this release differently, to engage my fans in an intentional way, in an effort to present the album as a whole body of work,” she says in the press release. “These 10 songs are designed to be listened to in order, at once, so that a much larger story of hope, loss, longing and resilience can be told.”

Of the album cover, Van Etten says: “I wanted to convey that in an image with me walking away from it all, not necessarily brave, not necessarily sad, not necessarily happy.”

“Porta” was shared in February via a video for it and was one of our Songs of the Week. “Used to It” was originally penned for an HBO documentary, Baby God, about “a fertility specialist who takes it upon himself to impregnate women with his own sperm,” and was also one of our Songs of the Week.

Last year Van Etten and Angel Olsen released the joint song, “Like I Used To,” which was shared via a Kimberly Stuckwisch-directed video. The duet easily landed at #1 on our Songs of the Week list and was also #3 on our Top 130 Songs of 2021 list. Then they performed the song with a full band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Then they shared an acoustic version of the song and performed the acoustic version on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

In April 2021, Van Etten released epic Ten, an anniversary reissue of her 2010 Epic album, via Ba Da Bing. It featured covers of the some of the album’s songs by notable artists, including Fiona Apple, Courtney Barnett and Vagabon, IDLES, and more.

Read our in-depth interview with Sharon Van Etten on Remind Me Tomorrow and check out our exclusive photo shoot with her.

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong Tracklist:

1. Darkness Fades
2. Home to Me
3. I’ll Try
4. Anything
5. Born
6. Headspace
7. Come Back
8. Darkish
9. Mistakes
10. Far Away

Sharon Van Etten Tour Dates:

Thu. Apr. 21 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Jefferson Theatre ~
Fri. Apr. 22 - Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom ~
Sat. Apr. 23 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse ~
Sun. Apr. 24 - Charleston, SC @ High Water Music Festival
Tue. May 31 - Lisbon, PT @ Aula Magna ^#
Thu. Jun. 2 - Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Sun. Jun. 5 - München, DE @ Muffathalle ^%
Mon. Jun. 6 - Antwerp, BE @ Openluchttheater Rivierenhof ^%
Tue. Jun. 7 - Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle ^%
Thu. Jun. 9 - Oslo, NE @ Loaded &
Fri. Jun. 10 - Stockholm, SE @ Rosendal, Djurgarden &
Sat. Jun. 11 - Copenhagen, DK @ Syd For Solen &
Mon. Jun. 13 - Berlin, DE @ Metropol ^%
Tue. Jun. 14 - Utrecht, NE @ TivoliVredenberg Grote Zaal ^%
Wed. Jun. 15 - Paris, FR @ La Cigale ^%
Fri. Jun. 17 - London, UK @ O2 Brixton Academy ^%
Sat. Jun. 18 - Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute ^%
Sun. Jun. 19 - Leeds, UK @ 02 Academy Leeds ^%
Tue. Jun. 21 - Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland ^%
Wed. Jun. 22 - Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street ^%
Thu. Jul. 21 - Vienna, VA @ Wolf Trap Center For the Performing Arts *
Fri. Jul. 22 - Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit *
Sat. Jul. 23 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium * √
Mon. Jul. 25 - Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater *
Thu. Jul. 28 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
Fri. Jul. 29 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
Sat. Jul 30 - Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre *
Tu. Aug. 2 - Troutdale, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater *
Wed. Aug. 3 - Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Amphitheater *
Fri. Aug. 5 - Boise, ID @ Idaho Botanical Garden *
Sat. Aug. 6 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Twilight Concert Series *
Sun. Aug. 7 - Denver, CO @ Sculpture Park *
Tue. Aug. 9 - Minneapolis, MN @ Surly Brewing Festival Field *
Wed. Aug 10 - Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed *
Thu. Aug. 11 - Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe *
Fri. Aug. 12 - Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall * √
Sat. Aug. 13 - Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall * √
Mon. Aug. 15 - Shelburne, VT @ The Green at Shelburne Museum *
Tue. Aug. 16 - LaFayette, NY @ Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards *
Thu. Aug. 18 - Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion *
Fri. Aug. 19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage at The Mann *
Sat. Aug. 20 - New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage *
Sun. Aug. 21 - New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage *

~ = with Mia Joy
& = with The National
^ = Darkness Fades Tour
# = with The Weather Station
% = with L’Rain
* = The Wild Hearts Tour with Angel Olsen, Julien Baker, & Spencer.
√ = no Spencer.

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