After four albums of exploring the darker side of Americana, Sharon Van Etten was going through changes. From humble beginnings in Belleville, New Jersey, to the harrowing experience of leaving an abusive partner in the middle of the night, her story is one shaped by grit, trauma, and determination. The success of her 2014 effort, Are We There, was a watershed moment. It led to a period of experimentation for the talented troubadour.
Fresh Friendships and New Sounds
Van Etten stopped touring and moved into uncharted territory. She composed a soundtrack for a short film and tried her hand at acting with an appearance in Netflix series The OA. Providence came with a cameo in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks reboot. During this transitional period, Van Etten met actor/musician Michael Cera while filming and the two immediately hit it off. They even began sharing a rehearsal room, replete with Cera’s collection of vintage synthesizers and keyboards.
“Drawn to the unique characteristics of the JUPITER-4, Van Etten went on to demo most songs for her follow-up on the iconic synthesizer.”
“At the time, I was sharing a space with the actor Michael Cera, and he had these amazing keyboards hanging around,” Van Etten explained. “One was an old CX-3 organ, and the other was a Roland JUPITER-4 synth, and I remember having no context at all. But I wanted to step away from the guitar and play something that I didn’t have any preconceived notions about.”
Synthspiration
Drawn to the unique characteristics of the JUPITER-4, Van Etten went on to demo most songs for her follow-up Remind Me Tomorrow on the iconic synthesizer. One of the first songs written for the album, “Jupiter 4” takes its name from the synth that inspired the album’s sound.
The track begins with a sinister drone and unnerving synth pulses. Its heavy, hollowed-out tones carry weight. Like creeping ocean waves with foreboding intent, they inch closer and closer. Reverbed percussion slithers in with the hypnotic cadence of a death march. Van Etten’s voice sounds severe and confessional, as her lilt unravels into a blooming kaleidoscope of melancholy.
“The track begins with a sinister drone and unnerving synth pulses. Like creeping ocean waves with foreboding intent, they inch closer and closer.”
A Slow Burn
Dynamically, the song moves with the unrelenting crawl of a moonlit train ride. “Jupiter 4” is slow and steady, traveling deeper and deeper into the unknown. It’s dark, gothic, moody, and creates a reality full of intrigue. However, the brilliance of the track lies in its careful duplicity. You see, “Jupiter 4” is a love song. It’s a tribute to her partner and the intensity of soul-shaking, life-defining love.
“Baby, baby, baby I’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting my whole life for someone like you,” she croons on the chorus. It’s a desperate plea to the future, as if to say, “I deserve this, please don’t take it from me.” The enormity of love isn’t without the understanding that nothing lasts forever. “Jupiter 4” embodies the terror of losing what’s most important with the lyrical grandeur of a Greek tragedy. It drags the undeniable connections between love and fear into the spotlight.
The Art of Living in the Present
Van Etten was pregnant, in love, and afraid that everything she’d worked for could be gone before she knew it—before she could live it. Remind Me Tomorrow is a meditation on the now. The title itself speaks to shirking tomorrow’s doom for today’s permanence. The album and “Jupiter 4” seem to say, “Remind me tomorrow about how things end because today doesn’t.”
