Sharon Van Etten’s latest “feels like a private conversation between artist and listener,” said Ryan Reed in PasteMagazine.com. The title refers to a recent rough patch in Van Etten’s life: After a bad breakup, the Brooklyn-based songwriter mostly slept on friends’ couches when she wasn’t touring. Aside from “Serpents,” the album’s rock single, “it’s shocking how fragile these songs are.” Often, we get just spare guitar above distant rumblings, plus Van Etten “whispering her tortured lullabies” in our ears “in the most intimate way possible.” Van Etten’s voice is “tremendously expressive, by turns powerful and breathy,” said Alyssa Battistoni in Mother Jones. Fortunately, she and her producer, Aaron Dessner of the band The National, “know better than to overwhelm it” with too much instrumentation. Tramp is an album that “rewards repeat listens.” The more you hear it, “the more the subtleties of Van Etten’s phrasing and tone come out.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Floral afternoon teas to enjoy during the Chelsea Flower ShowThe Week Recommends These are the prettiest spots in the city to savour a traditional treat
-
How to plan a trip along the Mississippi RiverThe Week Recommends See this vital waterway from the Great River Road
-
Crossword: May 15, 2025The Week's daily crossword
