Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

9. Sharon Van EttenAre We There

I heard ‘Every Time The Sun Comes Up’ and fell in love with the song. So I bought the album. I bought it when I was very skint, so it was a big deal when it arrived. What made me realise that I’d made the right decision was, when I opened it, there’s this picture of Agnès Varda with all of her films. And I thought, ‘Oh, Sharon’s one of me’. Then I watched Twin Peaks: The Return. A lot of the episodes end with a band playing at the Roadhouse. She’s there, with a track off this album. There were too many things to ignore: David Lynch, Agnès Varda, and first hearing ‘Every Time The Sun Comes Up’.

I love the production on this album. It just sounds really simple. And she sort of sounds like she doesn’t give a fuck. I hadn’t seen her play or anything until Twin Peaks, and they just looked so cool. I mean, it’s David Lynch filming them so… It’s quite confessional as well, like Joni Mitchell. [“I wash your dishes but I shit in your bathroom…”] Hell of a lyric.

It’s quite a modern choice. I took a photo of the inside of the cover with the Agnes Varda picture and tweeted it, just saying ‘What an image to put in an album’, and @’d her in it, and she liked it. I was like, “…yes!”

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