Sharon Van Etten announces double LP anniversary edition of her ‘Epic’ album

Sharon Van Etten has announced a new anniversary edition of her 2010 album ‘Epic’, with the double LP set to include covers by the likes of IDLES, Courtney Barnett and Fiona Apple.

‘Epic Ten’ will be released digitally on April 16 before a physical release follows on June 11 via Ba Da Bing.

  • Read more: Watch our Sharon Van Etten interview: “I don’t think I’d be a good wrestler, but I really love Glow

Celebrating the recent 10th anniversary of the original release of ‘Epic’ (which came out in September 2010), ‘Epic Ten’ will include the original album and a separate seven-track record of covers of tracks from ‘Epic’ by a selection of guest artists.

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As well as IDLES, Apple and Barnett (who collaborated with Vagabon for her cover), Van Etten has also invited Lucinda Williams, Shamir and St. Panther to cover songs from ‘Epic’.

‘Epic Ten’ is being previewed today (March 4) by a cover of ‘A Crime’ by Big Red Machine, the joint project of The National‘s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver‘s Justin Vernon – you can hear it below.

“Sharon is one of my favourite songwriters and I’ve been very lucky to get to collaborate with her many times over the years,” Dessner said in a statement. “Recording ‘A Crime’ with Justin, more than 10 years after we covered ‘Love More’ at Music Now with my brother Bryce – and thinking about all our shared memories – it felt like coming full circle.

“It’s an honour to be able to pay tribute to Sharon and her incredible songs,” he added. “We felt like the door should be about to fall off the hinges of this version and I think it sounds like that.”

Each Thursday leading up to ‘Epic Ten”s release on April 16 will see Van Etten sharing the album’s next consecutive cover.

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Speaking about ‘Epic Ten’, Van Etten said that the original ‘Epic’ album “represents a crossroads for me as an artist — going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up”.

“I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager,” she added. “Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.”

You can see the tracklist for ‘Epic Ten’ below.

1. ‘A Crime’ – Big Red Machine
2. ‘Peace Signs’ – IDLES
3. ‘Save Yourself’ – Lucinda Williams
4. ‘DsharpG’ – Shamir
5. ‘Don’t Do It’ – Courtney Barnett (ft. Vagabon)
6. ‘One Day’ – St. Panther
7. ‘Love More’ – Fiona Apple

A documentary on the making of ‘Epic’ will be screened along with a special livestream gig by Van Etten and her band on April 16 and 17 – you can find out more information, as well as tickets for the livestream, here.







Last month Van Etten released the full version of ‘On Your Way Now’ almost two years after the song was initially recorded.