From sound, to scope, to subject matter, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is ‘big’ in every sense of the word. After all, there’s nothing bigger than the end of the world, which is what Sharon Van Etten’s sixth studio album finds her meditating on – as she tackles traumas on a global and personal scale, under the dark shadow of a life-altering pandemic.

The album captures elements of both the unapologetic rawness of Van Etten's early work, and the more textured sound of her latest album, 2019’s Remind Me Tomorrow. But where the last LP was driven by sharp, synth-centred anthems, and a resounding feeling of triumph, the new album goes for something decidedly more complex – even, in certain moments, serving as an admission of complete powerlessness.

Her approach is almost too immense for earphones – swelling to interstellar levels on the likes of ‘Home To Me’ and ‘Born’. But where any other singer would be swallowed up by the epic instrumentation, the New Jersey native's famously commanding voice rises to heights it’s rarely ventured before.

There’s an intensity here that we haven’t seen from Van Etten in years – a fact that’s evidenced in her decision not to release any singles in the run-up to the album. But like her finest work, even at its darkest, it’s compellingly cathartic.

8/10

Sharon Van Etten plays Vicar Street, Dublin (June 22), and Cork Opera House (June 23).