Sharon Van Etten’s Remind Me Tomorrow won’t be out for another 10 days, but it’s already shaping up as a major moment in the singer-songwriter’s career, boosting the emotional clarity of her past work with a new pop power. Take “Seventeen,” the synth-buzzed stunner that Van Etten released today as the LP’s latest single. Like previous single “Comeback Kid,” it sounds like a song about memories and past selves. “I used to be free/I used to be 17,” she sings.
Most of the video takes place in New York, artfully shot and edited to resemble the grubbier city of decades past, which fits with the song’s low-key Springsteen vibe. There are scenes with an actress who might be a younger Van Etten, and a sequence filmed in Van Etten’s native Clinton, New Jersey. It’s a passionate song with a light touch — lots of big feelings, none of them heavy-handed — and the same is true of this video.
“Sharon wanted to use this video to create a love letter to New York, her home for the last 15 years,” director Maureen Towey said in a press statement. “She showed us around all her old haunts — the places that made her the musician that she is today. Some of these spots are still around, some are just empty lots now. We took an eye toward the city that was both tender and tough, trying to find the ways that a beautiful city can fall apart while still nurturing the hopes of a young artist.”
Remind Me Tomorrow is Van Etten’s first album since 2014’s excellent Are We There. It’s out January 18th.
Sharon Van Etten Tour Dates
February 6 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
February 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
February 8 – Boston, MA @ Royale *
February 9 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre $ *
February 11 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall *
February 13 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre *
February 14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
February 16 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
February 18 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre *
February 19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall *
February 21 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
February 22 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial *
February 23 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre *
February 26 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
February 28 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park *
March 1 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel *
March 21 – Birmingham, UK @ The Mill
March 22 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
March 23 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
March 24 – Glasgow, UK @ St. Luke’s
March 26 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
March 27 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
March 29 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
March 30 – Brussels, BE @ Orangerie (at Botanique)
April 1 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
April 2 – Koln, DE @ Luxor
April 3 – Munich, DE @ Strom
April 5 – Berlin, DE @ Lido
April 6 – Hamburg, DE @ Grünspan
April 7 – Copenhagen, DK @ Studio 2 (DR Concert House)
April 9 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
April 10 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret
April 11 – Stockholm, SE @ Kagelbanen
* with Nilüfer Yanya
$ with Fred Armisen