Sharon Van Etten Says Goodbye to New York in New Teaser for ‘Departure’

Sharon Van Etten reflects on her 15 years as a New Yorker in a clip from Departure, a new short documentary set to premiere September 26th on Amazon Music.

The clip features Van Etten in a recording session on her last day in New York, saying that she’s lived in the city longer than anywhere else. “I’m trying not to let it get to me too much, because I am sentimental,” she says. The camera then shifts from present-day Van Etten riding in a car down the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to when she was in her early twenties, playing music in front of people for the first time.

I'm so happy to be able to share my story with all of you in this way. 'Departure' will be out this Thursday via @AmazonMusic. pic.twitter.com/9AlSxqbkAw

— Sharon Van Etten (@sharonvanetten) September 23, 2019

“Every person that I met that was creative had like, three or four jobs,” she explains. “They worked their asses off to do what they love. That pushed me to do music and to have my career grow in the way that it has because of this drive that I was surrounded by.”

Directed by Josh Goleman, Departure also features Van Etten cutting “Seventeen” with Norah Jones, one of the highlights off her new LP Remind Me Tomorrow. Van Etten previously recruited Jones to duet on the track at Webster Hall last May — her final performance as a New Yorker.

Van Etten is scheduled to perform a live taping at Austin City Limits’ Moody Theater on September 30th, as well as Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky Festival on January 18th through 22nd, 2020 at Mexico’s Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. She recently appeared on Jeff Goldblum’s new single “Let’s Face The Music And Dance” from his upcoming jazz record I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This.