Singer-songwriter, actress and mother, Sharon Van Etten could be the love-child of Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith.
On Comeback Kid the stance, lyrical poetry and vocal delivery of Smith mixed with those stark Springsteen synths from the Born In The USA era is a thing of raw, complex and alluring beauty. Full of New Jersey underdog spirit, tonight’s opener Jupiter 4 is so opaque and haunting you can’t seem to shake it out of your bones.
For the first three songs, she trades the guitar for lots of jerky hand movements and wide-eyed expression reminiscent of Kate Bush, especially during No One’s Easy To Love. While there’s no lull in the set Memorial Day takes the atmosphere to a different level with another spine-tingling vocal. Hands sounded like a nod to Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights, one of the best album collections of the 00s.
The driving Seventeen is a lament to the less-frightening America of her youth full of the care-free dreams of teenage-hood. When she announces covering an inspirational song from growing up in the 80s and 90s, the audience didn’t expect a nod to the location and its heroes The Proclaimers for a sublime version of Sunshine On Leith.
It resembled the soundtrack to a classic American road movie. Her voice, songs, spirit and stage-craft are way out in front.
