Every Time the Sun Comes Up

Sharon Van Etten’s Are We There turns ten this year and reasserts itself as a one of her most powerful and timeless collections. It is clear from the opening chords that we are witnessing a new awareness, a sign of Van Etten in full stride, writing, producing, and performing from a place that seems almost mythical, were it not so touchable and real. Always direct, and never shying away even from the most personally painful narratives, many of the songs deal with seemingly impossible decisions, anticipation, and then resolution. Amidst all that brutal honesty, Van Etten finds moments of levity, as she always does: “Every Time the Sun Comes Up”, now pressed to 7” for the first time, started out as a lark but lifts the album at its close, completes the world she’s let us into, and resets us gently for whatever might follow.

It has, since then, become an indelible staple of Van Etten’s live shows. This new 7” edition features that live rendition getting the studio recording treatment fans have clamored for since it materialized. And the b-side, a live recording from the iconic Sydney Opera House, proves the song’s shapeshifting, indelible magic.