You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs and,
piece by piece, tell the story of how they remain.
My name is Tao Nguyen.
This episode contains explicit language.
Sharon Van Etten is a singer and songwriter who's put out five albums.
She's also an actress.
She's in The OA and Twin Peaks.
Her most recent album, Remind Me Tomorrow, came out in January 2019.
In this episode, Sharon breaks down a single from that album called Seventeen.
She shares the original demo she made with the song's co-writer, Kate Davis,
and we'll hear from producer John Congleton, who helped craft Sharon's new, more electronic sound.
We've also got a new segment we're introducing for the first time called This Is Instrumental.
So stick around after the full song to hear the conversation I had with Sharon about her current favorite instrument.
But first...
Here's Sharon Van Etten on how she made the song Seventeen.
My name is Sharon Van Etten.
When I started writing Seventeen,
I was spending more time in New York and exploring other sides of being a creative person,
meeting with other writers and trying to collaborate on songs together,
which I've never done before because I'm a solo writer usually.