Introducing: Sharon Van Etten

Name: Sharon Van Etten
From: Brooklyn, New York
Story: One girl, one guitar, much heartache
Sound: Magically melancholy

Sharon Van Etten just has one of those voices: rich and think and glowing and of such non-professional purity it seems to convey some universal truth. Van Etten turns words and slurs syllables, using her throat as an interpretive instrument, her every intonation steeped in meaning and sweetness. Like Cat Power —to whom her voice bears more than a passing similarity— Van Etten favors double-tracking; a simple bit of studio layering turning her every tune into a heartbreaking duet.

Van Etten's debut album, Because I Was in Love, finds her nestled in heartbreak, as if it were a familiar bedfellow. The New Jersey-born, Brooklyn-based songstress has carved out a quiet set of sad, sad songs; songs that say so much in their less-is-more mode, so much with every mournful strum and doleful vocal.

The record is due out May 26 on Language of Stone, the impossibly-tasteful freak-folk imprint helmed by Greg Weeks of acid-folkers Espers. Like all LOS releases (whose ranks include harmony-lovin' sisters Festival, Isreali folk siren Noa Babayof, and Marissa Nadler's side-project Mountain Home), Because I Was in Love was recorded in Weeks' own Hexham Head studio in Philadelphia, and features him on varying touches of instrumentation, as well as behind the desk (where Weeks' production sound has been described as "a shimmer of light through shadow").

Before the release of the album, Van Etten will traipse around Europe, playing shows supporting Canadian folk-rock outfit Great Lake Swimmers. Tour dates below, as well as an MP3 of the aching and gorgeous "For You."

• Listen: Sharon Van Etten "For You"

Sharon Van Etten Gettin' Around Europe:
May 11: Leipzig, Germany - UT Connewitz
May 12: Dresden, Germany - Beatpol
May 13: Fulda, Germany - Kreuz
May 14: Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur
May 15: Ottersum, The Netherlands - Cultureel Podium Roepaen
May 16: Brussels, Belgium - Le Botanique
May 18: Bristol, England - St. Bonaventure's
May 19: Manchester, England - Dulcimer
May 20: Newcastle, England - The Cluny
May 21: Glasgow, Scotland - Twisted Wheel
May 22: Birmingham, England - Glee Club
May 23: London, England - Borderline

Photo © [Eric Martin]