Sharon Van Etten is Bringing The Attachment Theory to Australia
Sharon Van Etten steps out of her comfort zone and brings something new to her almost two-decade long career with her new band The Attachment Theory.
Introducing the band with their self-titled album in February, which came with a strong sound, visual image, and well-defined idea of what she wanted it to be, it was her first time working with a full band on the writing process, something which assisted in amplifying her already magnificent vocals showcasing them in new ways. The album has a poppy, synth heavy, and full sound, it’s light, dark, intense, and unpredictable in the best possible way. It has songs like “I Want You Here” which are what we expect from a Sharon Van Etten fronted song with strong vocals with an almost cinematic instrumental. Then a song like “Indio” brings something completely different, it’s fast paced, exciting, full of ups and downs, loud drums, and a catchy chorus.
Now the Attachment Theory is coming to Australia in November, bringing the songs from their debut album to Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney, Castlemaine, and Brisbane. I spoke to Sharon over zoom on the brink of the tour to know more about the group she speaks so highly of.
It’s been so nice to hear how excited you are about the band every time you’ve spoken about it. What excites you so much about the project?
I know it sounds silly, but I’m in my forties and I’m finally learning how to jam. It’s one of those things that I missed out on when I was growing up. I didn’t write songs seriously except for when I was alone and going through shit. I was very intimidated by other musicians who knew more than me, I had imposter syndrome for most of my life, not that it’s gone away or anything. However, I found myself in this place where I loved the music we were making, the sonic palate we had created and as scary as it is to let someone in on my writing process, I was able to let go very quickly because of how receptive they were to that process. It was definitely something that was the next natural thing having found this band who I was very inspired by.
Yeah, how did the members come together?
It had different stages. My bass player and drummer started with me in 2018 and 2019 for Remind Me Tomorrow, I had another player, Charlie Damski, who was in the writing process of the record. As well as my friend Teeny Lieberson, who is the newest member of the band, we’ve known each other for twenty years, we came up together in Brooklyn, she was in a band called Here We Go Magic and another band called Teen. She plays piano but her main instrument is modular synth. After we all wrote these songs, Charlie got a gig working for Lana Del Rey, so he wasn’t in the studio, but after we made the record I bought in Shanna Polley, who is now in the band as the Attachment Theory.
Has it been a lot different writing with a band instead of just working with touring bands?
I’m friends with everyone I play with. I know so many touring bands where there seems to be such a disconnect between the writer and being a touring or a studio musician. I just saw that my bandmates were all of the above and I didn’t want to create this stigma or feel this separation that it was me and them. They are way better musicians than I am, I love the writing process, I can sing, I can arrange but as a player I’m not as strong, and they play all the instruments that I wish I could play better.
Did changing the process up, put new life into making music for you?
Yeah, I think collaboratively having conversations with other musicians who have more of a background, and know the theory behind it or know what changes would be interesting, was really helpful. I can sing a melody that I’m hearing in my head but I don’t know what chords could go under it. When you have those juxtapositions too it’s great to have conversations about what that is, if something feels slow to me, hearing examples of how we can keep the pace, explore this beat and where are these other spaces where we can feel other parts. It was really nice to have the conversation in the writing process, I’m a real loner, they made it so easy.
It's so nice having it be a more collaborative process and not be as isolating as it usually is.
Absolutely.
How did you come up with the name The Attachment Theory?
We had a long list of names leading up to it, but I kept coming back to it because it felt right. We have these different backgrounds and experiences, geographically, genre and also as people, I kept thinking about how interesting it is that we came from these different places and found each other. Touring together we become each other’s chosen family and create these sibling dynamics, we all have different chemistries with each other and collectively. It is quite remarkable to have a random jam session and create two songs in an hour with people I never knew I could. Also, the follow up to the week where we wrote 15 songs, it’s so special to have that chemistry with people. The only agreement we had with the name is that my bandmates didn’t want to talk about what their attachment styles were in any interviews, I said ‘Fair enough!’ [laughs].
Do you think also with your background studying psychology you wanted to have something that relates to that?
I always have a joke in the name somewhere, all the albums have a little joke in the title. I thought this was making fun of myself as well as acknowledging the real connection.
You mentioned that week you guys spent writing, can we talk about that week?
That place itself is magical, it was the same place we did the jam session. That jam session stemmed from being our first time all together in the same room since Covid. We’d made our previous record, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong from afar. I thought we need to be able to connect as people before we start touring together. So instead of going to a sterile practice space, I found this place in Yucca Valley that had a house and studio space so we could all live and work together for a week and hash out those songs. At the end of the week, we had some extra time which is when the jam session occurred. It was such a beautiful magical space where we could reconnect as friends and musicians and figure out what these songs were together and not just have a music director come in and say this is what I think. It bought us closer together from the very beginning. We had a US tour, and we came back to the space for another week. We bought in Josh Block for that week who used to play in White Denim. He’s an incredible engineer with a great ear. It was a really nice week, at one point I put everybody on the spot and told them that they had to show the group one track from each of their own projects outside of this one.
Wow, you really had the ice breaker going.
They were all very nervous, I remember Teeny just back pedalling a little bit. I just wanted everyone to know what they each do outside of this, I wanted them to pick a song and share with the class [laughs].
The locations seem like they play a very big part in this project. Going to Yucca Valley and to London to record. Did you feel like the locations were able to inform the music?
As soon as we were making it and I heard all the sounds, before we even finished the songs, I felt London immediately. Having worked in the industry as an artist and at a label, seeing the way people do different things, with social media, and album roll out. I thought especially now with this band I wanted to have a very cohesive idea for look, sound, and location. I also didn’t want to waste anyone’s time because we all have so much going on in our lives, so I was like how could we maximise all of our time. After we wrote all these songs, bought them to the church, rented this house, lived together, I picked a photographer. I was like here are my influences, this is a mood board, this is where I’m staying. Let's create something together so we get photography, video, the look of the space, our connection. Susu Laroche is an amazing photographer and videographer with an eye in that vein.
How was recording in the church?
It’s an old church so you feel that gothic energy as you walk down the street and just approach it. A huge part of playing and collaborating together is being able to communicate and play live, that’s the most important take away from these songs and I wanted them to have a live feel. Everyone who worked there was so in tune and excited about the project. Also the studio has the board in the same room as the round. Marta Salogni was behind the board communicating with us, being at eye level the whole time. It was beautiful, dark, there were moments of structure challenges but for the most part we just talked everything through, and the space had a beautiful energy.
To wrap this up, I wanted to ask you about “Indio”. The song really stood out to me on the record, it’s so different to anything you’ve ever made before. Would you like to talk about that song?
As I said earlier, I like to challenge myself and try new things. During the session in the desert I told the band I was going to run an errand but while I’m gone you guys write something, it can be whatever, throw paint at the wall and I’ll sing over whatever you make. I was not expecting that, but the range I heard in my head when I first heard it was very high, I had to sing very close to the mic, and high. I made up a melody on the spot and the only repeated word on the original demo when I was singing stream of consciousness was ‘Indio’. The whole idea once I hashed out the lyrics was, what a beautiful sonic trust fall this band is and being able to be in a room with a band who I could throw paint at a wall with and find each other in this way. The lyrics are all about trusting each other and letting go, walking into a room like that, being able to write a melody, and finding the words for that feeling.