Sharon Van Etten - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (amber galaxy & sti (Amber Galaxy Coloured LP)

From the off, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory is sonically different from Van Etten’s previous work. Writing and recording in total collaboration with her band for the first time, Van Etten finds the freedom that comes by letting go – letting go of her normal modus operandi or the need for control or attachment to the outcome. No safety net. It’s somewhat terrifying, but also liberating. The result of that liberation is an exhilarating new dimension of sound and songwriting. The themes are timeless, classic Sharon – life and living, love and being loved – but the sounds are new, wholly realized and sharp as glass.

This new approach–releasing music under this new moniker–began with inviting her bandmates into the creative process. Rehearsing in the desert for an upcoming tour, Van Etten describes an epiphany: “For the first time in my life I asked the band if we could just jam. Words that have never come out of my mouth – ever! But I loved all the sounds we were getting. I was curious - what would happen?” Magic, apparently. “In an hour,” she says, “we wrote two songs that ended up becoming ‘I Can’t Imagine’ and ‘Southern Life’.”