Are We There of 86, based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". At "Rolling Stone", Will Hermes rated the album four stars out of five, remarking how Van Etten's "darkness contains multitudes" just as Nick Cave's does, and he states Van Etten's latest release is "magnificent... which grows her trademark examinations of romantic decay to cathedral-like scale." Fred Thomas of AllMusic rated the album four stars out of five, indicating how Van Etten "can deliver her songs with a powerful, borderless command." Due to its high rating of 86 on Metacritic, Are We There became the fifth most critically acclaimed album of 2014.
How Are We Getting Home? to Kingston" and "The Lone-Star Stowaway" are all instrumentals. The first two feature the pipes and the last features the fiddle. "Tear Upon the Rose" is a slow song about the necessary pain of leaving your homeland. "Piña Colada in a Pint Glass", a mainstay live, is the song about a waitress who saves up her money to vacation someplace warm, complete with papaya, rum and coconut. "Short a Couple a' Bob" is reminiscent of the Beggarman in that it is catchy, quick and, tells the tale of a poor, but happy soul. The band's second foray into the Irish