Best Songs of the Week

Sharon Van Etten creates the sort of salty-sweet melodies that can tinge the darkest corners of her songwriting with bright silver linings. It makes her work intensely listenable—the arrangements manage to be both uplifting and morose, snarling one minute and comforting the next. "Taking Chances" will appear on Van Etten's fourth studio album, and if this single is any indication, she has leveled-up once again. Bits of Arcade Fire and Cat Power still pepper her music, but they are simply seasoning. The sounds are all her own, not one note out of place. - Crax