Sharon Van Etten: Never Bitter, Always Sweet

By Kim Bellware in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 12, 2011 8:20PM

Think back to the last time you talked romantic disappointment with a kindhearted friend who, despite his or her endearing nature, never seems to catch a break in relationships (we all have at least one friend like this). Then, imagine that friend is also endlessly self-deprecating, possesses an amazing voice and indulges in some corn-ball humor. Combine those factors, and what you'd have, approximately, is Sharon Van Etten.

The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter was fun, captivating and unfailingly humble throughout her show last Saturday night at Lincoln Hall. During her 75-minute set, Van Etten played some of her finest tracks--among them, “Love More, “Tornado,” and “Peace Signs”--with a fascinating combination of intimacy and accessibility.

Among her many strengths as an artist, one of Van Etten's greatest is her ability to strike a careful balance in her songwriting and with her vocals. The musical landscape is littered with the sadness and heartache peddled by artists possessing voices as lush and gorgeous and Van Etten's, artists who also share her propensity to sing about love gone wrong. With Van Etten, though, even if she sings about a soul-crushing experience, her songs never makes you feel miserable. It's also easy to recognize that her songs don't escape the feeling of heavy-handedness because they lack some sort of gravitas: lyrics like "You look at me so slyly/But only when I'm smiling/Every other time your head looks down" from the song "Much More Than That" surely pack an emotional wallop. The difference is that Van Etten sings with a palpable optimism, leaving listeners with a sense of redemption or hope that, even if your heart gets ripped out, you will (remarkably) keep on living.

Saturday's performance underscored Van Etten's refreshing resilience as another aspect of her appeal. Despite the strong emotional honesty that she conveyed during songs like "Save Yourself"--an honesty that would lead most of us to believe she's lived through most of the experiences she sings of--she remained down-to-earth and free of self-pity. Some singer-songwriters of Van Etten's ilk, like Beth Orton or Cat Power's Chan Marshall, are equally beautiful and affecting in their music, but unlike Van Etten, they also transmit the feeling that the weight of their sadness could ruin your whole day.

The spirited sense of triumph and notable lack of cynicism played a large part in making Van Etten's performance so enchanting rather than draining. Throughout the night she moved seamlessly and convincingly between extremes of heartfelt sadness and light happiness. She traded charmingly awkward banter with her band and with her parents, thanking them several times for flying all the way from the East Coast to see her. Always gracious to her audience, she shared several promising new songs from the album she's slated to release this fall, and treated the crowd to small gems like the warm, woozy cover of Blaze Foley’s “Ooh Love.”

Though clearly capable of hitting all the right notes with her powerful songs and her well-crafted melodies, one of the most delightful surprises was Van Etten's choice for the final encore song: a cover of Fine Young Cannibals' “She Drives Me Crazy.”

Van Etten obliterated the song and put her signature on it, managing to pull off with aplomb the transformation of an upbeat jam to a slow, longing groove. In typical Sharon Van Etten fashion however, she made it rousing and touching without killing any of its fun.