Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory share trippy new single ‘Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)’

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory have released the latest taste of their upcoming album, in the form of ‘Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)’.

• READ MORE: Sharon Van Etten: “I have to be hopeful. I’m a mother and I want to be brave for my son”

The group will release their self-titled debut album on February 7 via Jagjaguwar, with singer-songwriter Van Etten joining forces with her band – comprised of Jorge Balbi (drums, machines), Devra Hoff (bass, vocals), and Teeny Lieberson (synth, piano, guitar, vocals).

Now, they have given fans another preview of the record with the trippy, swampy, synth-driven ‘Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)’, a powerful psych-rock jam that shows off the band’s skills. Listen here:

Van Etten has said the song is about “trying to understand people with very different perspectives and backgrounds, while also trying to be compassionate towards our past, present, and future selves.”

“After days of rehearsing the songs from the album and how to execute them live, I was getting tired of hearing myself. I didn’t want to over rehearse the songs to death. And so, for the first time ever, I asked if the band just wanted to “jam,” play without it having to be something, to clear our heads.”

The new song follows on from the group’s previous single ‘Afterlife’, the first track released from the album. You can pre-order the album here.

The ‘Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory’ tracklist is:

1. ‘Live Forever’
2.  ‘Afterlife’
3. ‘Idiot Box’
4. ‘Trouble’
5. ‘Indio’
6. ‘I Can’t Imagine (Why You Feel This Way)’
7. ‘Somethin’ Ain’t Right’
8. ‘Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)’
9. ‘Fading Beauty’
10. ‘I Want You Here’

The band will also be heading on the road around the UK and Europe in February and March, including shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Manchester’s Albert Hall and Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom. See the full list of dates here and find remaining tickets here.

The new moniker was introduced to fans at Van Etten’s recent gigs, including an intimate, low-profile show in London this July.

Since playing the gig in the capital – which marked her first live appearance in over a year – Van Etten has performed a show at The Viper Room in Los Angeles, California and supported Mitski at the Hollywood Bowl.

The musician released her sixth and latest studio album, ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’, in May 2022. Last year, she shared ‘Quiet Eyes’ from the Past Lives soundtrack and the Courtney Barnett co-written single ‘Close To You’.

In a review of ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’, NME wrote: “Standout ‘Mistakes’ is Van Etten at her best, its thumping chorus ideal for banishing lockdown-induced rumination on your regrets […]

“Although it lacks the immediacy of 2018’s hookier ‘Remind Me Tomorrow’, this unyielding record is, at times, a powerful reckoning with the age of uncertainty.”