Shearwater & Sharon Van Etten
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" b / w "A Wake for the Minotaur" (Sub Pop)
Reviewed by Raoul Hernandez, Fri., Aug. 30, 2013
A beautiful gatefold, Record Store Day 7-inch, its B-side takes the prize. The main program, a faltering live cover of the indelible Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks duet, makes the mistake of preserving the original's tempo since not even Austin's Shearwater can match the easy swing of the Heartbreakers, while Van Etten's throaty approximation of Fleetwood Mac's sorceress falls flat. Conversely, "A Wake for the Minotaur," penned by Shearwater captain Jonathan Meiburg, swoons pure Fairport Convention on Brooklyn heartbreaker Van Etten caressing her partner's otherworldly vocal billow, Richard Thompson meets Antony & the Johnsons.
