Sharon Van Etten

What makes Sharon Van Etten's guest appearance on "Thirteen" (from the Antler's 2009 LP, Hospice) so affecting is the pure pragmatism of her voice. Epic, her second LP, sees Van Etten perusing through the same understated songbook as lo-fi forbearers Lou Barlow and early Liz Phair. Thanks to her all-female backing band, featuring Meg Baird (Espers) and Jessica Larrabee (She Keeps Bees), Van Etten is able to shape her tender delivery upon a psychedelic, silk scarf adorned backdrop that makes songs like "DsharpG" and "Love More" come off as haunted and ethereal. The vivacious "Peace Signs" and jangle pop of "One Day" demonstrate how Van Etten can just as easily play it off all confident and coy-like. Over seven tracks and 32 minutes, Van Etten delivers an LP covering so much creative ground that no critic on Earth can fault her for calling it Epic.