Photo by Michael Schmelling

Today, Sharon Van Etten announces her sixth studio album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, which will release on May 6 via Jagjaguwar. The 10-track release serves as a mediation upon the self, the world, and how to protect what’s important from forces beyond our control. According to a press release, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong “articulates the beauty and power that can be rescued from our wreckage.”

Like her albums epic and Are We There the new LP was co-produced with Daniel Knowles and recorded engineered mainly by Van Etten in her custom-built home studio in Los Angeles. On the album, Van Etten handles guitar, synthesizers, piano, drum machine, Wurlitzer, keys and more. She’s supported by Jorge Balbi on drums, Devon Hoff on base and live musical director Charley Damski on synthesizers and guitar.

Unlike many releases of this kind and previous releases of her own, Van Ettan’s recent singles “Porta” and “Used To It” will not appear on the album. “I wanted to approach this release differently, to engage my fans in an intentional way, in an effort to present the album as a whole body of work,” said Van Etten in a press release. “These ten songs are designed to be listened to in order, at once, so that a much larger story of hope, loss, longing and resilience can be told.”

Van Ettan continued to speak on the artistic direction of the album as a whole. She commented on the album’s cover art, saying, “I wanted to convey that in an image with me walking away from it all… not necessarily brave, not necessarily sad, not necessarily happy.”

Let this month, Van Etten is set to perform a string of dates in the South with the support of Mia Joy before heading out on her Darkness Fades Tour in Europe, followed by The Wild Hearts Tour with Angel Olsen, Julien Baker and Spencer.. Find tickets to the shows here.

Watch a trailer for the album below:

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong Tracklist
1. Darkness Fades
2. Home to Me
3. I’ll Try
4. Anything
5. Born
6. Headspace
7. Come Back
8. Darkish
9. Mistakes
10. Far Away

Sharon Van Etten Tour Dates:

April 21 – Charlottesville, VA – The Jefferson Theatre ~

April 22 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom ~

April 23 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse ~

April 24 – Charleston, SC – High Water Music Festival

May 31 – Lisbon, PT – Aula Magna ^#

June 2 – Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound

June 5 – München, DE – Muffathalle ^%

June 6 – Antwerp, BE – Openluchttheater Rivierenhof ^%

June 7 – Hamburg, DE – Markthalle ^%

June 9 – Oslo, NE – Loaded &

June 10 – Stockholm, SE – Rosendal, Djurgarden &

June 11 – Copenhagen, DK – Syd For Solen &

June 13 – Berlin, DE – Metropol ^%

June 14 – Utrecht, NE – TivoliVredenberg Grote Zaal ^%

June 15 – Paris, FR – La Cigale ^%

June 17 – London, UK – O2 Brixton Academy ^%

June 18 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Institute ^%

June 19 – Leeds, UK – 02 Academy Leeds ^%

June 21 – Glasgow, UK – Barrowland ^%

June 22 – Dublin, IE – Vicar Street ^%

July 21 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap Center For the Performing Arts *

July 22 – Asheville, NC – Rabbit Rabbit *

July 23 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium * √

July 25 – Austin, TX – Moody Amphitheater *

July 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre *

July 29 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre *

July 30 – Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre *

Aug. 2 – Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater *

Aug. 3 – Redmond, WA – Marymoor Amphitheater *

Aug. 5 – Boise, ID – Idaho Botanical Garden *

Aug. 6 – Salt Lake City, UT – Twilight Concert Series *

Aug. 7 – Denver, CO – Sculpture Park *

Aug. 9 – Minneapolis, MN – Surly Brewing Festival Field *

Aug 10 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed *

Aug. 11 – Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe *

Aug. 12 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall * √

Aug. 13 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall * √

Aug. 15 – Shelburne, VT – The Green at Shelburne Museum *

Aug. 16 – LaFayette, NY – Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards *

Aug. 18 – Boston, MA – Leader Bank Pavilion *

Aug. 19 – Philadelphia, PA – Skyline Stage at The Mann *

Aug. 20 – New York, NY – Central Park Summerstage *

Aug. 21 – New York, NY – Central Park Summerstage *

~ = with Mia Joy

& = with The National

^ = Darkness Fades Tour

# = with The Weather Station

% = with L’Rain

* = The Wild Hearts Tour with Angel Olsen, Julien Baker, & Spencer.

√ = no Spencer.