With earlier recordings, Sharon van Etten did not really want to stand out among the wide range of hip female singer / songwriters who freely and expressively sing about their love problems. The fact that this American folky succeeds on this third album has a lot to do with her collaboration with The National member Aaron Dessner. He produced Tramp and created the almost ghostly echoing carpets of
… sound around Van Etten's primary songs. These still seem to be mainly about bad boyfriends but rise above this due to the (The National related) American Gothic that the entire album now carries. Also beautiful is the supercooled and thin way in which Van Etten sings, so that the drama remains hidden under the skin and does not become pathetic anywhere. It makes Tramp an impressive album with which Van Etten - located somewhere between Espers and Jesse Sykes - seems to have found her identity. (MR)more
