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Are We There

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Are We There
A black-and-white image of a seated woman in sunglasses looking out the open window of a moving car. Handwritten text underneath reads "Are We There" on the bottom left and "Sharon Van Etten" on the bottom right.
Studio album by
Sharon Van Etten
ReleasedMay 27, 2014 (2014-05-27)
Studio
Genre
Length47:03
LabelJagjaguwar
Producer
Sharon Van Etten chronology
Tramp
(2012) 		Are We There
(2014) 		I Don't Want to Let You Down
(2015)
Singles from Are We There
  1. "Taking Chances"
    Released: March 4, 2014
  2. "Every Time The Sun Comes Up"
    Released: May 13, 2014
  3. "Our Love"
    Released: July 13, 2014
  4. "Your Love Is Killing Me"
    Released: October 28, 2014

Are We There is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten. It was released on May 27, 2014 via Jagjaguwar.[2]

Packaging

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Of the lack of a question mark in the album's title, Van Etten said it was "… open-ended, I ask myself that question all the time, for my work, for my love, even for my friends. It's just really good to check in with yourself and it's a play on words, about touring and about travelling, being in transition."[3]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.3/10[4]
Metacritic86/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The A.V. ClubA−[6]
Chicago Tribune[7]
The Guardian[8]
The Independent[9]
NME8/10[10]
Pitchfork8.2/10[11]
Q[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
Uncut9/10[14]

Upon its release Are We There received widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 86, based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[5] Fred Thomas of AllMusic rated Are We There four-out-of-five stars, in particular praising the album's "inventive arrangements and advances in songwriting", which he referred to as "an undeniable step forward for Van Etten".[2] In Rolling Stone, Will Hermes also rated Are We There four-out-of-five stars, writing that "like Nick Cave, [Van Etten's] darkness contains multitudes" and calling the album "magnificent" and one "which grows her trademark examinations of romantic decay to cathedral-like scale."[13] The A.V. Club's Emily VanDerWerff summarised that "Are We There offers an artist in full command of her voice and her instrument" and called it a "punishing epic of an album, intense and bruised and haunted", ultimately awarding it an A− rating.[6]

Pitchfork writer Stephen M. Deusner called Are We There "the peak of a steady upward trajectory", describing how it was more "self-determined and self-directed" than Van Etten's previous albums, Because I Was in Love (2009), Epic (2010) and Tramp (2012).[11] In NME, Cian Traynor made a similar observation, writing that Are We There is "less jagged and more finessed than its intricately layered predecessor … The songs are slower and spacious enough to keep their clarity intact". Traynor further praised the album's arrangements and Van Etten's emotional delivery, awarding it an eight-out-of-ten rating.[10] However, writing for The Guardian, Tim Jonze offered a more mixed review criticizing how Van Etten's songwriting on Are We There "conforms to accomplished but trad indie-rock norm". Jonze did, however, appreciate the album's "unusual harmonies", "orchestral slow build" and referred to "Every Time the Sun Comes Up" as a "stirring closing number" in his three-out-of-five-star review.[8]

Accolades

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Due to its high rating of 86 on Metacritic, Are We There became the fifth-most critically acclaimed album of 2014.[citation needed] In addition, it placed in several year-end lists. The album was placed at number 20 on Rolling Stone's list of the "50 Best Albums of 2014." Likewise, NME placed the album at number 31 on their list, while Q placed it at number 7.[15] Jessica Goodman and Ryan Kistobak of The Huffington Post included the album on their list of 2014's best releases, calling the album "earnest and tragic".[16] In 2019, Pitchfork ranked Are We There at number 174 on their list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s"; contributing editor Jayson Greene wrote: "Are We There was a great deepening—of Sharon Van Etten’s emotional range, of the power of her songwriting, and of the potency of her voice."[17]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Afraid of Nothing"4:05
2."Taking Chances"3:50
3."Your Love Is Killing Me"6:18
4."Our Love"3:53
5."Tarifa"4:51
6."I Love You But I'm Lost"4:19
7."You Know Me Well"4:32
8."Break Me"4:01
9."Nothing Will Change"3:16
10."I Know"3:36
11."Every Time the Sun Comes Up"4:23
Total length:47:03
Japanese CD digital download[18] bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Afraid of Nothing" (Demo) 
2."Taking Chances" (Demo) 
3."Break Me" (Demo) 

Personnel

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All personnel credits adapted from Are We There's album notes.[19]

Charts

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Chart (2014) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 123
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 164
Irish Albums (IRMA)[22] 30
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)[23] 6
UK Albums (OCC)[24] 27
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[25] 19
US Billboard 200[26] 25
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[27] 6
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[28] 7
Chart (2015) Peak
position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] 33

References

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  1. ^ Pitchfork Staff (October 8, 2019). "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 3, 2023. Her fourth album, Are We There, was the first to rise from classic soul more than indie rock...
  2. ^ a b c Thomas, Fred. "Are We There – Sharon Van Etten". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  3. ^ Lau, Melody (May 6, 2014). "Sharon Van Etten Explains the Open-Ended Nature of 'Are We There'". Exclaim!. 1059434 Ontario. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  4. ^ "Are We There by Sharon Van Etten reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Reviews for Are We There by Sharon Van Etten". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  6. ^ a b VanDerWerff, Emily (May 27, 2014). "Sharon Van Etten unleashes an epic that's punishing—in a good way". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  7. ^ Kot, Greg (May 23, 2014). "Sharon Van Etten tucks turmoil inside melodies". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Jonze, Tim (May 22, 2014). "Sharon Van Etten: Are We There review – breathtaking lyrics, hit-and-miss songs". The Guardian. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  9. ^ Coleman, Nick; Williams, Holly; Harley, Kevin; Richman, Simmy (May 23, 2014). "Album reviews: Neil Young, Royksopp & Robyn, Sharon Van Etten, The Secret Sisters". The Independent. Independent Print. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Traynor, Cian (May 23, 2014). "Sharon Van Etten – 'Are We There'". NME. TI Media. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Deusner, Stephen M. (May 27, 2014). "Sharon Van Etten: Are We There". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  12. ^ "Sharon Van Etten: Are We There". Q (336). Bauer Media Group: 117. July 2014.
  13. ^ a b Hermes, Will (June 5, 2014). "Are We There". Rolling Stone. No. 1210. Penske Media Corporation. p. 73. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  14. ^ "Sharon Van Etten: Are We There". Uncut (205): 70. June 2014.
  15. ^ "Sharon Van Etten – Are We There – Reviews". Album of the Year. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  16. ^ Goodman, Jessica; Kristobak, Ryan (December 15, 2014). "The 23 Best Albums of 2014". HuffPost. Verizon Media. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  17. ^ "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  18. ^ "Are We There". Hostess Entertainment Unlimited. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  19. ^ Are We There (Album notes). Sharon Van Etten. Jagjaguwar. 2014. JAG255.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Sharon Van Etten – Are We There" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – Sharon Van Etten – Are We There" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  22. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 22, 2014". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  23. ^ "GFK Chart-Track – Independent Albums: Week 22, 2014". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  24. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  25. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  26. ^ "Sharon Van Etten Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  27. ^ "Sharon Van Etten Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  28. ^ "Sharon Van Etten Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  29. ^ "Charts.nz – Sharon Van Etten – Are We There". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
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