From collaborations with Superchunk, Angel Olsen, and others, and on to her own solo work, Sharon Van Etten has become one of those musicians who brings a bit of magic to whatever she touches. Now, with her new band, she's set to serve up one of her most compelling records yet with Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory, out on Jagjaguwar this week.
"Live Forever" opens things with crystalline vocals over skittering keyboards and purposeful drumming. The sound is part New Wave, but all powerful. When the song bursts forward, and Sharon's voice takes flight, the chills up the spine start. Equally powerful is "Afterlife", a number built around Sharon's voice where the musicians behind her join in and take the song forward and around the ups and downs of the melody.
What works so well here and on other tracks on this record is that contrast between the beauty of the vocals and the percolating and supple rhythms of the music. Considerable praise must go to Jorge Balbi (drums, machines), Devra Hoff (bass, vocals), and Teeny Lieberson (synth, piano, guitar, vocals) for what they bring to this. The combination of Sharon's pipes and those instruments is enveloping, and a recipe for a kind of tuneage that is both sleek and sharp. That this record was recorded in the Eurythmics' old studio, The Church, makes perfect sonic sense.
Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory is not only Sharon Van Etten's best record to date but also her most assured. Stylistic leaps, like from the near-Donna Summer-ish "I Can't Imagine (Why You Feel This Way)", to the lumbering rawk of "Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)" are handled effortlessly, the band anchoring her vocal flights and explorations at every step of this musical journey. And this whole thing wraps itself up with the stunning "I Want You Here", one of Sharon's best performances to date. Entering the same territory as sometime musical partner Angel Olsen, Sharon takes this one and soars with it. There's so much heart and soul poured into this that the cut sort of obliterates the rest of the record. Simple backing instrumentation keeps a distance as Van Etten pours it all out. One of the best tracks of the year and it's only February.
Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory by Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory is out this week on Jagjaguwar.
[Photo: Oktar Elkin]