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Oct 30, 2018 Sharon Van Etten By Christopher Roberts

Sharon Van Etten is releasing a new album, Remind Me Tomorrow, on January 18, 2019 via Jagjaguwar. Previously she shared its first single, “Comeback Kid” (which was one of our Songs of the Week). Now she has shared a video for “Comeback Kid.” Jonathan William Turner directed the clip, which finds Van Etten embracing her rock ‘n’ roll side, both in terms of the make-up and styling and her mannerisms during the video. Van Etten sings the song while older photographs of her and others are projected onto her. Watch it below, followed by Van Etten’s upcoming tour dates.

Van Etten had this to say about the video in a press release: “As the lyrics for ‘Comeback Kid’ unfolded, I realized I was talking about many selves: the kid, the adult, the sibling, the friend, the neighbor. I imagined a projector streaming over me of memories, unclear if they are mine or someone else’s, confronted by the disorientation of time and perspective. Jonathan William Turner helped me to convey these struggles of self, forgiveness, and living in the now.”

William Turner had this to say: “The visuals draw from Sharon’s personal archive of photos and videos as the narrative of the song looks back on her past. The elements are then reactivated by an undercurrent of abstract animations. These sequences are also used to frame and obscure her performance, suggesting the fractured identity of someone looking at their past, but also confidently facing the future. Sharon is both audience and projectionist of her memories.”

Remind Me Tomorrow is the follow-up to 2014’s Are We There, but she’s kept busy in the intervening years, having a kid, going back to school, writing a film score, and embarking on an acting career. The album was written while Van Etten was pregnant and going to school to study psychology. Around that time she also guest starred on the Netflix show The OA and was one of the musical performers on the revival of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Plus she wrote the score for Strange Weather, a 2017 drama directed by Katherine Dieckmann and starring Holly Hunter and Carrie Coon, as well as contributing the closing title song for Tig, a 2015 documentary on comedian Tig Notaro. As a previous press release described it, “Remind Me Tomorrow was written in stolen time: in scraps of hours wedged between myriad endeavors.”

John Congleton produced Remind Me Tomorrow, taking Van Etten’s original demos and helping to transform them into a new sound for the singer/songwriter. “He helped flip the signature Van Etten ratio, making the album more energetic-upbeat than minimal-meditative,” the previous press release explained. “The songs are as resonating as ever, the themes are still an honest and subtle approach to love and longing, but Congleton has plucked out new idiosyncrasies from Van Etten’s sound.”

The album finds Van Etten stepping away from the guitar, writing on piano. “Comeback Kid” was initially a piano ballad, but Van Etten “didn’t want it to be pretty,” so it evolved. The previous press release further described the album’s sound as such: “Remind Me Tomorrow as a whole shows this magnetism towards new instruments: piano keys that churn, deep drones, distinctive sharp drums. There are dark intense synths, a propulsive organ, a distorted harmonium.”

The album features Van Etten’s longtime collaborator and bandmate Heather Woods Broderick, as well as various guests, including: Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, Zachary Dawes, Brian Reitzell, Lars Horntveth, McKenzie Smith, Joey Waronker, Luke Reynolds, and Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint.

Van Etten had this to say about the album in the previous press release: “I want to be a mom, a singer, an actress, go to school, but yeah, I have a stain on my shirt, oatmeal in my hair and I feel like a mess, but I’m here. Doing it. This record is about pursuing your passions.”

Sharon Van Etten Tour Dates:

Wed. Feb. 6 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
Thu. Feb. 7 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer #
Fri. Feb. 8 - Boston, MA @ Royale #
Sat. Feb. 9 - New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre $ #
Mon. Feb. 11 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall #
Wed. Feb. 13 - Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre #
Thu. Feb. 14 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall #
Sat. Feb. 16 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue #
Mon. Feb. 18 - Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre #
Tue. Feb 19 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall #
Thu. Feb 21 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom #
Fri. Feb 22 - Vancouver, BC @ Imperial #
Sat. Feb 23 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre #
Tue. Feb. 26 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore #
Thu. Feb 28 - San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park #
Fri. March 1 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel #
Thu. March 21 - Birmingham, UK @ The Mill
Fri. March 22 - Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Sat. March 23 - Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
Sun. March 24 - Glasgow, UK @ St. Luke’s
Tue. March 26 - London, UK @ Roundhouse
Wed. March 27 - Bristol, UK @ SWX
Fri. March 29 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
Sat. March 30 - Brussels, BE @ Orangerie (at Botanique)
Mon. April 1 - Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
Tue. April 2 - Koln, DE @ Luxor
Wed. April 3 - Munich, DE @ Strom
Fri. April 5 - Berlin, DE @ Lido
Sat. April 6 - Hamburg, DE @ Grünspan
Sun. April 7 - Copenhagen, DK @ Studio 2 (DR Concert House)
Tue. April 9 - Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
Wed. April 10 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret
Thu. April 11 - Stockholm, SE @ Kagelbanen

# = with Nilüfer Yanya
$ = with Fred Armisen

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