Skip to content
Reviews

Sharon Van Etten, ‘Epic’ (Ba Da Bing)

Equal parts lovesick and sick of love, Brooklyn drone-folkie Sharon Van Etten has cultivated a harder edge since her introspective, ethereal 2009 debut flirted with freak folk. On Epic, she’s grown as brassy as vintage Lucinda Williams while still drowning in the intimate bite of street noise, the confessional feel of studio chatter, and the postmodern swirl of dream-pop slurry. Equally at home with the wheeze of a harmonium as with cigarette-burn roots rock, Van Etten wrangles romance via complaints, regrets, and even a few well-placed insults.