Sharon Van Etten’s I Don’t Want to Let You Down could be passed off as filler; coming off of 2014’s beautifully soul crushing Are We There, Van Etten would be hard pressed to create anything so affecting or so intricate. But while I Don’t Want to Let You Down might not be as stunning, it made up for it with some gorgeous tracks, built around a glowing centerpiece: “Just Like Blood.”
Naturally, it’s Van Etten’s operatic voice that controls the song, commanding it with a tormented zeal as organs and pianos swirl in the background. Her voice soars between highs and sighs, spinning verses into defeat and choruses into verdicts as an orchestra closes in around her.
“Just Like Blood” sees Van Etten circling her usual lyrical homes: Love just doesn’t work, the significant other runs and Van Etten’s left alone. But her voice delivers the cliché in a way that stuns and convinces, matched in drama by the strings that twirl behind her and the organs that hum below.