Sharon Van Etten has entered into a powerful era of letting go, and it’s not something done for show. On her upcoming work, the indie musician collaborated with her band in a way that she hasn’t done before. You can tell just by the title — Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory — making the work self-titled in the new moniker for Van Etten’s group.

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory rises from the ground with the repeated lyrics “Who wants to live forever?” amidst subdued synth sounds in first track “Live Forever.” Just in this first minute of the LP, the singer immediately puts the listener into an environment of tense introspection. While Van Etten has employed use of eletronica in her previous works, the assertion of synths in “Live Forever” sets the albums off to be something almost extraterrestrial-sounding. 

The album teeters between these more somber features, which also includes tracks such as “Trouble” and “Fading Beauty,” and more upbeat, poppier songs that have an indie-rock flair, like with “Afterlife” or “Indio.” 

Third track “Idiot Box” follows that hopeful feel with a coming-of-age edge to its high guitar chords and keyboard notes along with sweet vocals from Van Etten. Lyrically, she continues that theme of introspection with lines like “All this time we can’t get back,” and “When you find it’s just a dream, all this gets to me.”

Aspects that give influence to this album include that 80’s synthyness commented on previously, which one can hear explicitly in “I Can’t Imagine (Why You Feel This Way),” as well as a tone of etherealness. That first song “Live Forever” combines these two elements intrinsically, but the ethereal sound also comes through in “Fading Beauty” and final track “I Want You Here.”

“I Want You Here” begins with a movement of silence and then brings in the more purposeful vocals on the greater work. Van Etten sounds both vulnerable and powerful when she belts, “I want you here when it hurts even when I feel like a curse, and I want you here at the edge of the earth.” With the keyboard notes holding in the background and the rest of the instruments slowly coming in, the musical build-up goes right to the listener’s chest.

Van Etten has been hailed as a contemporary folk luminary, with kind, raspy vocals and heartfelt poetry. Though that excellence does not lessen on Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, the newfound contribution from her band in the creative process definitely changes the sound from the rest of the singer’s work, making the LP its own distinct moment in time.

—Krista Spies

Watch: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - Afterlife