Outstanding Synth-ematic Soundscape
After composing the score of 2016 film Strange Weather, Sharon Van Etten released her 2019 album Remind Me Tomorrow, an album that was key in her career. It broke from her previous guitar-focused sound, and instead focused more on synths and being experimental. Her latest release, a deluxe edition of We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, is an album which reflects maturity and a smooth continuation from Remind Me Tomorrow. We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is by far her most outstanding work yet, brandishing her modern cinematic inspiration, and connecting her audience in such a profound way that she’s never done before.
The album starts off with the track “Darkness Fades.” Van Etten makes the choice to strip down the song to her voice and guitar for the initial half, before incorporating soft percussions and thick string-like synths. It is a very vulnerable track. The song sounds like how stargazing with a lover feels. It is romantic, heartfelt, hopeful and hopeless at the same time.
“Home to Me” immediately provides a different sound. The piano chords are dark and the song speaks of sorrow. The lyrics are simple, but Van Etten puts energy in to her interpretation, making this track some sort of transition to the next. The composition is very cinematic, Van Etten is a very strong user of synths for storytelling, a true strength for her musicality, and this album.
“I’ll Try” is more upbeat than the previous tracks. It’s chorus is catchy, and carefully crafted. It uses a plethora of light synths to complement Van Etten’s voice, which changes from chest voice, to a mix, and head voice, decorating the topline. “I’ll Try” speaks about trying to make it in a relationship, trying to make it work no matter how hard it is.
“Anything” brings the energy back down again, but not by much. It keeps the darker theme going, and the track is about feeling numb and possibly depressed given the world’s situation, a fair conclusion based on the line “Can’t stop thinking ‘bout peace and war / Up the whole night.”
“Born” is a slow ballad. Piano, voice, and soft drums make up most of its instrumentation in the beginning before being joined by subtle, dreamy synths. Those same synths aid in the song exploding in the middle of the track, and Van Etten’s choir-like vocals take the track in a different direction. It sounds like a medieval forest fire, a war breaking out. Van Etten is relentlessly cinematic in her music.
“Headspace” is a dreamy alternative track, relying heavily on rock elements and synths. It is sorrowful and emotional. Van Etten channeled the power of her voice and the repetition in her chorus. It is a more explicit track in its verbal imagery, speaking about love in the dark, “I want to touch you in the dark / put your lips on neck to me,” she sings, yearning to not be rejected by her lover. One of the most memorable elements of the track is the high pitched synth riff in the chorus, hitting before every “Baby don’t turn your back to me.”
Combining elements of both Country and Rock, “Come back” tries to persuade a lover to come back to her, and to care about her. Her vocals cut through the song, raw and in pain. For an interesting change, “Darkish” is the first track in the album to explicitly use elements of sound design. Sounds of birds in the track makes it sound like it was recorded in her porch, in the morning. For its title, “Darkish” isn’t too dark. It’s more sad and calm, with a homey sound. “Far Away” joins the list of ballads in the song, this time, mourning a lover who left to find their way.
“Mistakes” is the complete opposite of the previous tracks. Van Etten is confident, and wants to sway and dance. She owns up to her mistakes, wanting to actively do better. She no longer wastes time sulking over them.
Overall, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is a great album. It is a great listen for anyone, especially the cinephiles out there. Sharon Van Etten is an expert at taking her listeners for a ride to diverse universes and soundscapes through her music, repetition, her voice and her outstanding composition.
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