Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Love Spells

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Susu Laroche

An obscured view of Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory.

Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory

media release: “Sharon Van Etten is going all-in with her band, the Attachment Theory” (Rolling Stone). Set to release their self-titled debut album on February 7th via Jagjaguwar, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory now unveil new single/video “Southern Life (What It Must Be Like),” following the “gothically romantic” (Pitchfork) lead single, “Afterlife.” In conjunction, they also announce a 2025 North American Tour. More information at sharonvanetten.com/tour.

In Van Etten’s words “Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)” is about “trying to understand people with very different perspectives and backgrounds, while also trying to be compassionate towards our past, present, and future selves.” One of the first two songs written with the band in the desert at Gatos Trail in the Yucca Valley, the song materialized off the cuff following a rehearsal for the We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong tour. “After days of rehearsing the songs from the album and how to execute them live, I was getting tired of hearing myself. I didn’t want to over rehearse the songs to death. And so, for the first time ever, I asked if the band just wanted to ‘jam,’ play without it having to be something, to clear our heads,” Van Etten explains.

The video for “Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)” was shot, directed, and edited by Ethan Dawes, and features 35mm footage from the band’s recent surprise performance at the iconic Los Angeles concert venue The Viper Room.

Recorded with producer Marta Salogni at London’s The Church, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory presents an exhilarating new dimension of Van Etten’s sound and songwriting. For the first time, it was written and recorded in total collaboration with her band — Jorge Balbi (drums, machines), Devra Hoff (bass, vocals), and Teeny Lieberson (synth, piano, guitar, vocals) — “[pushing] Van Etten to go louder, rawer, and altogether more evocative at every turn” (Vulture) and allowing her the freedom that comes from letting go. With Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Van Etten deepens the discourse that animates so much of her timeless catalog, exploring what it is to be simply human. This is her genius – oblique, but also relevant and personal.

“Sharon Van Etten is so back.” - NYLON

"['Afterlife' is] bigger and louder and more nakedly emotional than anything she’s done since ‘Seventeen,’ and it hits that same anthemic register. Something special is happening here.” — Stereogum

“Sharon Van Etten is utterly timeless, the type of artist who can unite listeners of many generations with the rich timbre of her voice.” — Paste