While Sharon Van Etten’s latest album Remind Me Tomorrow came out in early 2019, the singer has remained prolific ever since its release. Most recently, Van Etten offered a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” to raise awareness surrounding mental health, and before that, the singer appeared on Idles leader Joe Talbot’s raucous quarantine talk show. Now, the singer shares a song she wrote for a documentary about the iconic Pepe The Frog meme.
Van Etten’s “Let Go” single features a slow-paced rise to a crashing medley of instruments. The track is leisurely and moving, not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the Pepe meme. But the documentary, titled Feels Good Man, isn’t as lighthearted as it may seem. Originally debuting at Sundance, Feels Good Man follows artist Matt Furie, Pepe’s creator, as he attempts to reclaim the image which had quickly morphed into a symbol of hate on 4Chan boards and concerning corners of the internet.
In a statement about writing the song for Feels Good Man, Van Etten said she wanted to create a sense of serenity after she first saw the film: “After watching the documentary, I just followed the feeling of coming to terms with something and tried to evoke peace through my melody and words. The song and film’s producer, Giorgio [Angelini], was a great collaborator and communicator and I was given a lot of freedom. That says a lot about the film and the people who made it.”
Listen to “Let Go” above.
Feels Good Man premieres 10/16 via PBS. Watch it here.