Sharon Van Etten – Are We There

Sharon Van Etten’s fourth studio album, Are We There (2014), represents a compelling evolution in her artistry. Self-produced with collaborator Stewart Lerman, the record balances intimacy with expansive emotional expression, showcasing her evocative contralto through sparse arrangements and nuanced instrumentation. Across tracks like the stirring “Tarifa” and gripping “Your Love Is Killing Me,” Van Etten’s voice and songwriting carry confessional weight and a dramatic immediacy, resulting in a deeply affecting and cohesive album.

Critics widely recognized Are We There as a milestone in Van Etten’s trajectory. The album delivers raw, urgent lyricism, layered with sophisticated musical textures and striking emotional clarity. Its production and vocal performances signal maturity and command, marking her transition into a more self-assured, deeply resonant phase of her career.

Reviews

"Her magnificent fourth LP grows her trademark examinations of romantic decay to cathedral-like scale." – Rolling Stone

"offers an artist in full command of her voice and her instrument, a woman who knows exactly what she wants to offer listeners and who isn’t afraid to accompany the barest streaks of sunlight with thousands of clouds." – The A.V. Club

"may be her most present-tense album to date, her most immediate and urgent—the peak of a steady upward trajectory." – Pitchfork

"less jagged and more finessed than its intricately layered predecessor … The songs are slower and spacious enough to keep their clarity intact." – NME

"While still immersed in songs of emotional ravagement and betrayal, the confidence of her performances and spectrum of sounds represented here suggest a complete graduation from troubled, uncertain roots into a place where she can deliver her songs with a powerful, borderless command." – AllMusic