Sharon Van Etten Shares Intimate Live Performance Video for “Keep”

The spare arrangements of Sharon Van Etten’s debut album inaugurated an almost decade-long career of writing songs that breathe vulnerability and honesty, paving the way for a whole discography of music that exudes naked emotion. Now, having released three more studio efforts since then, she’s looking back on the record and reissuing it as (it was) because i was in love, a Vinyl Me Please exclusive that includes new artwork and liner notes, as well as two bonus tracks, “I’m Giving Up On You” and “You Didn’t Really Do That.”

Van Etten previously shared the refurbished version of “I Wish I Knew, a song that she sang in her acting debut on Netflix’s The OA, and now, she has shared a live performance video for “Keep.” For the one-shot clip, she teamed up with Sean Durkin, a director she previously worked with in the making of her video for “Your Love Is Killing Me” from 2014’s Are We There. The intimate clip zooms in on Van Etten’s face as she sings, making the sentiments of the song as palpable as they can get. Of the video, Van Etten said in a statement:

Sean mentioned to me years ago that filming me live, performing, in my element, a single shot, would be intriguing to him. I was nervous about the idea then, but as we decided to reissue because i was in love and revisiting the sentiment behind the songs, a live performance of where I am today would truly be the perfect way to reintroduce people to these early songs. They still ring true to me and they still come from an honest place. I’m just older now, with more perspective, but that’s the only real difference. It became something more beautiful than I could have imagined.

Watch the live performance video for “Keep” below, and underneath, find Van Etten’s Daytrotter Session from 2010. Revisit the details of (it was) because i was in love here.