It’s been a few years since Sharon Van Etten’s most recent album, 2014’s Are We There — although she did recently collaborate with Michael Cera on a lovely single. Thankfully, there’s more new music on the way: Not a new Van Etten album, but a re-release of her first record that includes some new material.
Van Etten’s 2009 album Because I Was In Love has undergone a complete re-branding; We’re talking new album art and even a new title, (It Was) Because I Was In Love. The record has also been remixed and remastered, and includes two new bonus tracks, “I’m Giving Up On You” and “You Didn’t Really Do That.”
Van Etten has shared the new version of album opener “I Wish I Knew,” which fans of Netflix’s The OA ought to recognize, since Van Etten sings it during an emotional moment in the show. She previously said that it’s the song she sang in her audition, and she chose it because it’s about being aware of your own insecurities and it’s not a “typical Sharon” song:
“Then when they told me they wanted one of my own songs, I thought of this song. It has a really beautiful melody that changes and develops from chorus to verse, it doesn’t ever repeat itself, and I thought that would be interesting. It’s also not one of my ‘typical Sharon, sad breakup’ songs. Lyrically it talks more about not being sure of yourself, and not specifically about love necessarily — it’s more about feeling insecure and not knowing yourself, but being honest about it. “
(It Was) Because I Was In Love is set to release on November 17th. Check out the new art above and the tracklist below.
1. “I Wish I Knew”
2. “Consolation Prize”
3. “For You”
4. “I Fold”
5. “Have You Seen”
6. “Tornado”
7. “Much More Than That”
8. “Same Dream”
9. “Keep”
10. “It’s Not Like”
11. “Holding Out”
12. “I’m Giving Up On You”
13. “You Didn’t Really Do That”
