I've Got Me
Studio album by
Joanna Sternberg
ReleasedJune 30, 2023 (2023-06-30)
StudioStrange Weather, Brooklyn, US
Length32:34
LabelFat Possum
ProducerMatt Sweeney
Joanna Sternberg chronology
Then I Try Some More
(2019)		 I've Got Me
(2023)

I've Got Me is the second studio album by American musician Joanna Sternberg, released on June 30, 2023, through Fat Possum Records. It was produced by Matt Sweeney. The title track was released ahead of the album.[1]

Background

Prior to recording the album, Sternberg had a series of "both professional and personal" setbacks, and they felt taken advantage of by the music industry, which prompted them to address their mental health issues and "quit substances".[2] They wrote the songs during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Recording

Sternberg recorded the album with producer Matt Sweeney and engineer Daniel Schlett at the Strange Weather studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[7]
Paste8.0/10[8]
Pitchfork8.6/10[9]

I've Got Me received a score of 85 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[5] Stereogum named it album of the week, with James Rettig writing that Sternberg's "compositions are becoming increasingly fleshed out" and although both "steadfast" and "ambitious", the album "still feels like a homespun affair", with Sternberg's voice "carr[ying] these songs. It's pillowy but also raw and aching, and it contains a kernel of a New Yorker's characteristic world weariness".[10] Pitchfork designated it "Best New Music", with the site's Emma Madden stating that "Sternberg culls from a broader emotional range and an expanded musical vocabulary" on the album, which contains "singsong ditties and openhearted ballads [that] play like new standards" and "doesn't sound hushed or intimate. It's just there, present, as if something obvious suddenly revealed itself to you."[9] John Amen of The Line of Best Fit felt that "Sternberg elaborates on the approaches and themes of their debut", calling their "perceptions and narration [...] as complex as ever, brimming with pop-psych allusions and peppery doses of ambivalence and satire". Amen concluded that "Sternberg's songs are readily accessible; then again, the talented musician and singer offers multilayered lyrics and works skillfully with vocal paradoxes".[7]

Annie Parnell of Paste wrote that the songs "start simply, then bloom into playful complexity" as "Sternberg tracks a dogged healing process through twelve deeply reflective tracks". Parnell also felt that "the album's ordering feels acutely intentional: Grief is nonlinear, as is healing."[8] AllMusic's Timothy Monger found that "the songs are sad, but also joyously robust and full of the conflicting emotions of simply being alive" and also stated that "Sternberg's quavering voice will not please everyone and their musical palette is delightfully out of step with the times, but their candor and warmth of character are universal."[6]

Pitchfork ranked it the 34th best album of 2023.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Joanna Sternberg

I've Got Me track listing
No.TitleLength
1."I've Got Me"2:16
2."I Will Be with You"2:14
3."People Are Toys to You"2:43
4."Drifting on a Cloud"2:35
5."Mountains High"2:59
6."I'll Make You Mine"3:08
7."Stockholm Syndrome"2:29
8."Right Here"2:11
9."The Love I Give"2:05
10."She Dreams"3:29
11."The Human Magnet Song"1:45
12."The Song"4:40
Total length:32:34

References

  1. ↑ Marlin, Natalie (March 9, 2023). "Joanna Sternberg: "I've Got Me" Track Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  2. ↑ Bernstein, Jonathan (June 1, 2023). "Joanna Sternberg Went Through Hell To Make Their Triumphant New Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ Rettig, James (March 8, 2023). "Joanna Sternberg Announces New Album I've Got Me". Stereogum. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  4. ↑ Minsker, Evan (March 8, 2023). "Joanna Sternberg Announces New Album I've Got Me, Shares Video: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "I've Got Me by Joanna Sternberg Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Monger, Timothy. "Joanna Sternberg – I've Got Me Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Amen, John (June 27, 2023). "Joanna Sternberg: I've Got Me Review – complex tradition". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Parnell, Annie (June 30, 2023). "On I've Got Me, Joanna Sternberg Keeps Going". Paste. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Madden, Emma (June 30, 2023). "Joanna Sternberg: I've Got Me Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  10. ↑ Rettig, James (June 27, 2023). "Joanna Sternberg I've Got Me Review". Stereogum. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  11. ↑ Cush, Andy (December 5, 2023). "The 50 Best Albums of 2023". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
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