Sharon Van Etten ‘Serpents’

I’ve been a big fan of American singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten since I was introduced to her music through her collaboration with The National on their track Think You Can Wait. And now it appears that The National are returning the favour, as brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner are among the incredible list of musicians who will make contributions to Sharon Van Etten’s new album, ‘Tramp’, which is due out February 2012. Also on that list is Zach Condon, Julianna Barwick, and The Walkman’s Matt Barrick, among many others. Today we got the first taste of ‘Tramp’, the single Serpents.

What a track. This song in particular features Matt Barrick, Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), Zach Condon, Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), and Julianna Barwick, as well as Aaron Dessner on production duties. While it would be easy for such a staggering list of talent to result in a slightly disharmonious track, quite the opposite has happened in this case: Serpents is a polished, cohesive, and wonderful song. Above all else it has the unmistakable styling of a Sharon Van Etten song, meaning that she has maintained her own distinct musical tendencies despite the overwhelming contributions from other musicians, which can only be a good thing. This is one album to seriously look forward to.