As she was putting together her seventh and most recent record, Sharon Van Etten came up with a tongue-in-cheek idea for its title. “Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory,” she wanted to call it — a reference to both her interest in psychology and a play on the familial dynamics that often exist within a band.
Although most of Van Etten’s bandmates have been with her for several years, this was her first time writing songs with them, so playing with that relationship felt apt. But when the indie musician approached her collaborators with the idea for the title and band name, there was one stipulation: “They said, ‘I don’t mind you calling it ‘The Attachment Theory,’ as long as we don’t have to talk about our attachment styles,’” Van Etten laughed.
