I don’t think you can read anything into the title of the previous Sharon Van Etten record, but there’s no denying that she made a sea change when creating the current one. Rather than shouldering the load of writing the music, instead she drafted a group of musicians who took on the name of The Attachment Theory to help in a collaborative manner.
Along with longtime drummer Jorge Balbi, the solid bass work of Devra Hoff and keyboard and vocals of Teeny Lieberson helped push Van Etten’s songs into an entirely new direction. Live, the band was augmented by guitarist/keyboardist Shanna Polley and it made sense that the majority of the songs played tonight would be from it. Van Etten didn’t ignore her back catalog but did mention that the folkier songs are harder to play with the new band.
There was definitely more of an edge, with strains of PJ Harvey and Siouxsie and St. Vincent showing through, and the bass line of “Idiot Box” had shades of The Cure “via Mogwai. Van Etten’s interactions with the band really underscored the collaboration part, fake sparring at times, laying hands on during others.
She dedicated “Anything” to Max, her old guitar tech who has moved on to other things, including painting, and the large abstract paintings used as backdrops on stage were created by him. She also called out the former Boston Globe music critic James Reed for having conducted her first interview with a major publication, and started the encore with a solo reading of her debut record’s opening track, “I Wish I Knew.” Folk still suits you Sharon, but the fuller and more aggressive band sound does as well.
Love Spells is the musical project of Sir Taegen C’aion Harris and he was centered between a drummer and guitarist who also must have been triggering some beats and synths during the songs. Harris addressed the crowd a few times between songs and then once again launched into falsetto vocals, a dream pop swirl enclosing the room.
