Sharon Van Etten's Because I Was In Love

The first time I heard Sharon Van Etten, she quietly stepped on stage as the opening act for The Antlers at Bowery Ballroom in 2009. She looked quite nervous playing before an audience that had no idea who she was, but later expressed her joy that she hadn't had "any fruit thrown" at her yet.

Fruit throwing wasn't the only thing out of mind; everything beside Sharon wasn't important while she was up there playing to a completely silent audience. Captivated, I bought her debut album Because I Was In Love after the show. The title was perfectly fitting because every song stemmed from a relationship that had irrevocably ended.

This album isn't just a sappy break up record; it's filled with depth, amazing harmonies and overflows with emotion. A Brooklyn Native, Sharon isn't unlike the recognizable folk voices of Alela Diane or Dana Falconberry. The songs don't have much more than acoustic guitar pluckings, child-like murmurs and heart-wrenching lyrics. The song, "Consolation Prize" is the one that had prompted me to buy her album. She belts at the top of her lungs and seems to promise to herself that she "will never be your consolation prize." An otherwise small, shy girl commands complete attention the second she raises her angelic voice.

The song "Tornado" is one of the strongest lyrical pieces on the album. As she sobbingly sings "I'm a tornado. You are the dust, you're all around, and you're inside," she knows it's almost impossible to get rid of the person she loved. It depicts destruction and wreckage inside of her. As intense as the lyrics seem to be, the music backing them is ironically passive, symbolic of the attitude she may have possesed while dealing with these emotions.

Sharon has the power to soothe you, making this by far one of the greatest fall-asleep-to records. It also has the power to make you cry. She released all of her hurt and angst onto a beautiful record. A way to heal. And that is what this album does for it's listeners... it heals.