Story: Bill Forman
Over the course of her 15-year recording career, Sharon Van Etten’s music has been variously described as acoustic folk, alternative rock, indie pop and even new wave. Small wonder then that high-profile publications like the New York Times have called her “chameleonic.”
“I feel like with every record, I try to do something different and approach it differently, so it’s a challenge for me and also, I guess, for my fans,” Van Etten said in an early April interview. “I don’t want to make the same record twice, so I experiment a little bit with how I make the record and how I write the songs. I feel like I have so many influences—new genres and bands and instruments—that it’s really hard to focus on one style of music.”
That’s no less the case on Van Etten’s latest album. Released in February, Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory is both the name of the album and the band—which is telling, since her six previous releases were all self-credited solo albums, making this her first proper band album. It was while figuring out live arrangements for new songs that Van Etten found herself taking a step toward letting go of the reins.
“We had extra time at the end of the week, and for the first time ever, I said, ‘Can we just jam? I’m so tired of hearing myself,’” she recalled. “I was very inspired by this sonic palette that we were creating together, and I wanted to see what would happen without forcing it to be anything. And in this spur of the moment, it only took us an hour or so to write two songs.”
While the album contains elements of past Van Etten efforts, there are also echoes of synth-pop, goth and post-punk in the mix. Van Etten’s vocals sometimes suggest a toned-down Kate Bush, Patti Smith or Siouxie Sioux.
As for the band name, “attachment theory” is a term psychologists use to describe how a person’s childhood experience can influence relationships throughout their lives.
“I’ve been studying psychology here and there, taking classes during some free time, and chipping away towards a degree,” Van Etten said of the somewhat tongue-in-cheek name. “I think that the more you work with groups of people, the more you can have compassion and understanding, even in the hardest of relationships. And as bandmates—not just recording together, but also on tour together—we tend to leave our friends and family behind. We become each other’s chosen family on the road, and we have these sibling dynamics. It’s a lot to live up to every single day, and we rely on each other for emotional support.”
A New Jersey native, Van Etten moved across the waters to Brooklyn at a time when bands like TV on the Radio, Grizzly Bear and Beirut were beginning to draw national attention.
“Williamsburg was just starting to explode, and those were very formative years where I said yes to everything,” she recalled. “I would have a day job, and then I would either go to a show or play a show every single night. Everyone played shows with each other, and there was a lot of experimentation. I loved it for how it kicked me in the ass and helped me be more motivated in ways I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t moved there.”
Van Etten also spent time in Nashville before returning to her Garden State roots. Prior to her current tour, she played a show at the Stone Pony, the legendary venue that was home to seminal New Jersey artists like Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith.
“I knew about Bruce’s work, of course, and I got to see him in concert early on. But the first time I got to see Patti Smith wasn’t until around 2010. So yeah, I was a late bloomer to really knowing her music and getting to see her live.”
Today, Van Etten is making up for lost time. Weeks before her current tour, she performed at a Carnegie Hall tribute to Patti Smith. Onstage, she covered Smith’s “Pissing In a River.” Offstage she was surrounded by the likes of Courtney Barnett, Charlie Sexton, Scarlett Johannson and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
She also got to hang out with Angel Olsen, who toured with her and Julien Baker on what they billed as the Wild Hearts tour. Van Etten is currently collaborating with Olsen on some new songs she expects will soon see the light of day. “And I got to meet Flea,” Van Etten said. “He actually reached out to me personally to let me know he was a fan, which was amazing.”
And yes, Springsteen and his wife were there. “I didn’t get to meet Patti or Bruce, but I did make eye contact with them,” she enthused. “There were just so many people that they knew there, so I didn’t want to overwhelm them with my fandom.”
Aside from her musical pursuits and taking some psychology classes when she’s had time, Van Etten has also dipped her toes into the acting world with roles in the Netflix series “The OA” and the film “In the Shadow of the Moon.”
As for taking on future acting roles, Van Etten is still on the fence. “[The show] ‘The OA’ was my first real foray into that world, and I still don’t know if I am good at it, and I’m not sure if I like it,” she said. “But I will say that it was a challenge. And, you know, I think it’s healthy to feel uncomfortable in a creative position, because I think that can only inform you as a creative being.”
Related: Our review of Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory