Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
Critic Score
Based on 45 reviews
2019 Ratings: #26 / 805
Year End Rank: #8
User Score
2019 Rank: #134
Liked by 101 people
January 18, 2019 / Release Date
LP / Format
Jagjaguwar / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Evening Standard
By changing direction and writing some of the finest songs of her career, she’s come up with the first great album of 2019.
100
Louder Than War

Remind Me Tomorrow is nothing short of a masterpiece, bringing a fresh dimension to what was already a brilliant career, and Sharon Van Etten has evolved over the course of a decade from a folky cult figure into a bona fide rock star: proof that good things really do happen to those who wait.

100
Consequence of Sound
Lyrically and emotionally, it’s a scrapbook of those “lost” years, funneled through 10 essential tracks that all find her on steadier footing. Those feet are now on new terrain, but Van Etten ably strolls by the worn-out footprints of so many crooners who have previously stumbled or worn out their soles with such a departure.
100
No Ripcord
It’s her grandest and greatest evolution yet.
100
NOW Magazine
Van Etten’s work is a rotary of emotional experiences, most often the tumultuous motions of loving and loving the wrong person. But here her purpose is clear, sharp. She writes about loving holistically, and maybe finally of loving a self that exists as it is.
90
AllMusic

Throughout Remind Me Tomorrow, she plumbs the depths of contentedness, setting her satisfaction to a sound that's nominally dark yet strangely comforting and nourishing. Even if this album doesn't speak to your specific life, it will nevertheless enrich it.

90
musicOMH
It may be very different to her previous work, but in it’s own way, it provides just as much an emotional gut-punch.
90
Loud and Quiet
With ‘Remind Me Tomorrow’ Van Etten has shown she’s an enduring artist able to create cohesive works without being limited to a single style. Relatable in theme but with exploration beyond her previous musical boundaries, this is a record of quite astounding depth and resonance, one which should be played often.
90
The Line of Best Fit

Sharon Van Etten’s new album is the crown jewel in her peerless catalogue .... By not pulling her punches, Van Etten has seemingly done the impossible – reinvented herself by doubling down on her own artistic tendencies.

90
Exclaim!

Remind Me Tomorrow is not only a reminder of the power of love but also features some of Van Etten's finest work to date.

90
Albumism

Even if the material and formula have been heard before, Remind Me Tomorrow feels brand new.

87
Paste

Sharon Van Etten was already one of the great lyricists of the ‘10s, but with this breathtaking new project, she’s proved an artistic pliancy her contemporaries may not possess. She hit her stride with Are We There, but here she’s not even on the ground.

85
Under the Radar

Remind Me Tomorrow stands comfortably alongside Van Etten's finest work but also, excitingly, quite aside from it. Van Etten continues to amaze, move and impress with every move.

85
Earmilk

Van Etten doesn't have any interest in Remind Me Tomorrow being pretty. Life is gritty and grating and perhaps the most exciting thing this album succeeds in doing is mimicking life.

84
Pitchfork
On her fifth album, Sharon Van Etten conjures tempests and explores their subsequent calms. It is the peak of her songwriting and her most atmospheric, emotionally piercing album to date.
83
A.V. Club

Anyone looking for tidy narratives won’t find them in Remind Me Tomorrow, as the album isn’t concerned with backstories or motivations. Instead, its 10 songs are much more focused on how their protagonists are dealing right now, in the present, with triumphs, traumas, and new beginnings.

83
Pretty Much Amazing
Her instincts as a songwriter—one of the best of the decade, surely—have not been diminished or neglected in her pursuit of an expanded, sometimes experimental sound. These ten new songs, some of her best yet, brim with heart and wisdom.
82
Sputnikmusic
This is the kind of record that never loses sight of a desire to learn and change.
80
The Sydney Morning Herald

She has never sounded so sensuous as on Jupiter 4, a synth-soaked torch song with fire in its loins, or as carefree as she does on Seventeen, the heavy snare and keyboard stings driving an ode to adolescent abandon.

80
Gigwise

Releasing her fifth studio album Remind Me Tomorrow, she tests the boundaries with what she can do, and has gone further than she ever imagined.

80
The Guardian
Whether Van Etten is brooding on the present or pining for the good old days ... the general impression remains the same: this ambitious, arresting album feels like the work of an artist wielding her considerable talents with newfound confidence and conviction.
80
The Arts Desk
Her trademark intensity and vulnerability are there in abundance.
80
Q Magazine
It never sounds over-considered or a grab for mainstream success, but rather the joy of an artist relishing new territory.
80
FLOOD Magazine
It’s fascinating to hear her chew through a landscape so markedly different from anything she has navigated before. All of it feels of the same canvas, though—an evolution of Van Etten’s core aesthetic, but hardly an abandonment.
80
Dork
What it lacks in emotional heft, it makes up for in spirit. Sometimes change is good. In 'Remind Me Tomorrow', it’s electrifying.
80
The Irish Times
Pianos, synths and life-changing moments are the driving force of this album.
80
Spectrum Culture

Remind Me Tomorrow may delve into darker sonic terrain for the artist, what with its whirring and noisy synths, but Van Etten has never sounded as ecstatic as she does on this record, and her already considerable body of work seems poised to get even better.

80
The Observer
Van Etten remains resolutely herself: possessed of a slow-burning seethe that builds to swirling crescendos, she is a consummate surgeon of relationships, keen on Bruce Springsteen.
80
The Telegraph

The atmosphere is doomy and gothic, creating an underlying tension that casts her lyrics of devotion and self-forgiveness in a shadowy light. It’s as if she can’t quite commit to her own happiness.

80
The Independent
After a period of tumult, Sharon Van Etten’s fifth album is a reinvention. But beneath its hazy synths and electronics are songs of endurance and inner peace, of settling after a flurry of activity.
80
Crack Magazine

Returning to her songcraft after marking off epochal moments in her personal life, Remind Me Tomorrow pops with vibrancy on a record that makes Van Etten’s voice feel more alive and present than ever.

80
Mojo

Remind Me Tomorrow feels full to the brim, flooded to the top with experimental colour and texture, drones and drums and synthesizers.

80
Clash
Atmospheric scenery mingles with new aesthetics that add colour to her widescreen laments.
80
Rolling Stone

Her fantastic new album, Remind Me Tomorrow, ups her ambitions even further, pushing toward a grand, smoldering vision of pop that can bring to mind Lana Del Rey and St. Vincent ... and the New Wave warrior-queen spirit of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O.

80
The Skinny

Many of Sharon Van Etten’s fans may be disappointed by the lack of sadness and darkness on Remind Me Tomorrow, and while there are still elements of both in the album’s undertones, there’s more of a hopefulness and sense of promise that suits her just as well.

80
American Songwriter
This album manages to be striking even when the words are minimized or backgrounded.
80
DIY
The sea change in Sharon’s personal life has given rise to a tidal wave of ambition in her music; that she has harnessed it so masterfully surely confirms her position as one of her generation’s most compelling voices.
80
The 405

Remind Me Tomorrow isn’t only a return to her calling, but a grand surprise. Sharon Van Etten has finally, truly, embraced just how appealing her unique voice can be.

80
NME
Don’t call it a comeback, but it may well be her most intoxicating and impressive work to date.
80
PopMatters

Sharon Van Etten's Remind Me Tomorrow bucks expectations and her previously visceral songwriting tone for something more reflective, exploratory, and ultimately more impactful.

70
The Needle Drop

Remind Me Tomorrow is a little all over the place in terms of style and pacing, but is nevertheless another solid set of songs from Sharon Van Etten.

70
Uncut
If the music at times fails to convey the particularities of her lyrics on the trip-hoppy "Memorial Day," Van Etten remains an insightful chronicler of small moments that produce overwhelming emotions.
70
Spill Magazine

Remind Me Tomorrow is the sound of a musician exploring new directions. We did not expect Sharon Van Etten to make an album with bass-heavy, dance-punk music, but we are better off because of it.

70
Drowned in Sound

Remind Me Tomorrow isn’t as consistently captivating as Tramp or Are We There, but it’s nonetheless a delightful return, one that gives us a new (pleasingly less traumatic) window into Van Etten’s world.

50
God Is in the TV
This trend for slightly errant singers of a certain popularity to add a bit of squiggly electronica and lyrical whataboutery in order to obtain critical immunity does nothing for these ears when I have feasted them on Neko Case and Mitski over the last year. Which is why, if I were you, I would just program tracks one, six and seven and be done with the rest of this album.
amw100
85

In a day with so many big releases, it's almost easy to forget Sharon Van Etten even released an album today, that is until you listen to this beautiful thing. This album is one of, if not the best pop albums of the decade, and a strong early AOTY contender. I love pretty much everything about this album, and i'm extremely happy that this is one of the albums we open this year with. I'll tell you right now, this is a high bar she set for albums for the rest of the year, and i can say that this ... read more

PipePanic
61

Eh. It's fine. Good production and interesting lyrics. Just not for me. Bit too safe for me. Very Bowie inspired I suppose.

...Yeah, I got nothing. This is ok.

Favorite Jams: Comeback Kid, Seventeen, You Shadow

Lest Favorite: I Told You Everything

(For further thoughts, see my Stella Donnelly review)

exception
87

An album with tons of replay value. One of the best sets of art pop songs this year.

95

It’s different from her usual sound but damn does it work so fucking well

notchkninspnish
100

A brilliant singer-songwriter taken to darker, grander, and synthier places than her previous albums with the help of John Congleton (Angel Olsen's All Mirrors, St. Vincent from Actor to S/T). Breakout track "Seventeen" is peak Springsteen and true to her New Jersey roots, and it's on my shortlist of best songs ever (although the punchy chorus of "Hands" has consistently been my favorite live).

It's less lyrically intense than prior albums like Are We There and Epic, but ... read more

DrakeBonna
80

Favourite Tracks:

No One's Easy to Love
Comeback Kid
You Shadow

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Track List

1I Told You Everything
4:45
76
2No One's Easy to Love
4:34
85
3Memorial Day
4:27
79
4Comeback Kid
3:02
87
5Jupiter 4
5:14
85
6Seventeen
4:25
94
7Malibu
3:23
81
8You Shadow
3:14
78
9Hands
4:08
83
10Stay
4:00
76
Total Length: 41 minutes
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Added on: October 2, 2018