Sharon Van Etten

Sharon Katharine Van Etten (born February 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress. Originally from New Jersey, and currently based in Los Angeles, Van Etten's music is noted for its indie rock aesthetic and personal lyrical content. In the studio and during live performances, Van Etten is currently accompanied by her backing band, the Attachment Theory, which consists of Devra Hoff (bass guitar, backing vocals), Teeny Lieberson (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals) and Jorge Balbi (drums).

To date, Van Etten has released seven studio albums: Because I Was in Love (2009), Epic (2010), Tramp (2012), Are We There (2014), Remind Me Tomorrow (2019), We've Been Going About This All Wrong (2022) and Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory (2025).

As an actress, Van Etten starred as Rachel in both series of the Netflix mystery drama The OA (2016–2019), and has appeared in the feature films Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) and How It Ends (2021).

Early life Van Etten was born in Belleville, New Jersey, the middle child of five. She lived in Nutley, New Jersey, then moved to Clinton, New Jersey as a pre-teen. Van Etten attended North Hunterdon High School, at which she participated in the chorus and performed in stage musicals.

Later, Van Etten moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to attend Middle Tennessee State University and studied recording, but dropped out after a year. She ended up working at the Red Rose, a coffee and record shop and music venue in Murfreesboro for about five years. She fell into an abusive relationship with a rock musician who discouraged her from writing songs. After five years, she left in the middle of the night with whatever she could carry. Before her studio debut, she worked at Astor Wines and as a publicist at Ba Da Bing Records. Additional recording took place at Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia, where the album was also mixed with engineers and mixers Brian McTear and Jonathan Low. The album features musicians Doug Keith, Thomas Bartlett, Bryan Devendorf, Bryce Dessner, Matt Barrick, Rob Moose, Julianna Barwick, Peter Silberman, Logan Coale, Clarice Jensen, Ben Lanz, Zach Condon, and Jenn Wasner.

May 2014 brought about the release of Van Etten's fourth studio album, titled Are We There, on Jagjaguwar. Van Etten produced the record with Stewart Lerman, with the guidance of bandmate and manager Zeke Hutchins. Most of the recording was done at Hobo Sound Studios in Weehawken, New Jersey, with piano tracks being recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The record features musicians Zeke Hutchins, Doug Keith, Heather Woods Broderick, Dave Hartley, Adam Granduciel, Marisa Anderson, Stuart Bogie, Mickey Free, Mary Lattimore, Little Isidor, Jacob Morris, Torres' Mackenzie Scott, Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg, Lower Dens' Jana Hunter, and Efterklang touring member Peter Broderick. The extended play (EP), I Don't Want to Let You Down, a compilation of songs that were not included on Are We There, was released on Jagjaguwar in 2015.

2016–2022: Remind Me Tomorrow and We've Been Going About This All Wrong

After the release of Are We There, Van Etten took some time away from music. She pursued acting, had a child, and applied to Brooklyn College to study psychology and mental health counseling. Remind Me Tomorrow was a departure from Van Etten's previous guitar-focused work, featuring more synthesizers, drums, and experimental sounds. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 scuttled those plans, and during the resulting lockdowns Van Etten wrote songs that focused on her new life as well as the wider political landscape and "collective trauma" people were experiencing.

On May 15, 2020, Van Etten released a cover version of Brinsley Schwarz's 1974 song "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" with Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme.

In October 2020, Van Etten made a song titled "Let Go" for the documentary film, Feels Good Man, directed by Arthur Jones about cartoonist Matt Furie, the creator of the Internet meme Pepe the Frog.

On November 16, 2020, Van Etten released two cover versions of traditional holiday songs, "Silent Night" and "Blue Christmas".

On May 20, 2021, Van Etten released a single with Angel Olsen, "Like I Used To," which was produced by John Congleton. Olsen and Van Etten appear in the music video with their hair styled in similar shag haircuts.

In July 2021, Van Etten took part in the Newport Folk Festival.

On May 6, 2022, Van Etten released her sixth studio album We've Been Going About This All Wrong.

2023–present: Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory

On August 23, 2024, ten years after the initial release of her fourth studio album Are We There, Van Etten released the single "Every Time the Sun Comes Up" (Alternate Version) on 7 inch vinyl.

In February 2025, she released Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory which received "universal praise" on Metacritic.

Influences and musical style Van Etten cites Ani DiFranco as a key influence, saying, "She was the first musician I had ever heard whose songs were super confessional. She could really play guitar... That was my first experience with non-pop female musicians. She made me want to start playing more."

Van Etten possesses a contralto vocal range, which Caleb Caldwell of Slant described as "husky". NPR described her vocals as raspy, elegant and luminous, while Consequence called it "earthy". Music journalists of The Guardian, Rolling Stone and The Independent wrote that Van Etten's voice and singing style sometimes evoked Siouxsie Sioux's of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Van Etten's music is characterized by a heavy use of harmonies. Pitchfork described her songs as having "echoes of folk tradition." NPR Music asserts: "Her songs are heartfelt without being overly earnest; her poetry is plainspoken but not overt, and her elegant voice is wrapped in enough rasp and sorrow to keep from sounding too pure or confident." With "Comeback Kid" and Remind Me Tomorrow, Van Etten introduced electronic sounds into her music. She has said, "I listen to a lot of OMD... I'm into a lot of the new post-punk electronic stuff." In a 2020 interview, when asked about a few albums that mean the most to her, she named John Cale's Fear (1974), Fleetwood Mac's Tusk (1979), and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' No More Shall We Part (2001).

Acting Since 2016, Van Etten has appeared in both seasons of the Netflix drama The OA as Rachel, a fellow abductee along with Prairie in Dr. Percy's basement lab/terrarium.

Van Etten made her feature film debut with a supporting role in the 2020 film Never Rarely Sometimes Always directed by Eliza Hittman, for which she also wrote and performed the original track "Staring at a Mountain".

Van Etten also appeared in the 2021 film How It Ends as Jet. The film featured two new songs by Van Etten, "How Much I Loved You" and "Till We Meet Again".

In 2026, she is a guest star from the children's television in Yo Gabba Gabbaland in Season 2.

Personal life Van Etten had her first child, a son, in 2017 with husband Zeke Hutchins. Hutchins used to be her drummer and then became her manager. After living in New York City for 15 years, she moved with her family to Los Angeles in September 2019.

Discography Studio albums + List of albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Peak chart positions US BELFl. BELWa. FRA GER NLD NZ POR SWI UK Because I Was in Love Released: May 26, 2009 Label: Language of Stone—————————— Epic Released: September 21, 2010 Label: Ba Da Bing—————————— Tramp Released: February 7, 2012 Label: Jagjaguwar 75————————— Are We There Released: May 27, 2014 Label: Jagjaguwar 25 123 164——— 33—— 27 Remind Me Tomorrow Released: January 18, 2019 Label: Jagjaguwar 94 49 131 134— 88— 10 39 30 We've Been Going About This All Wrong Released: May 6, 2022 Label: Jagjaguwar— 102 169— 52— 22 26 88 28 Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory Released: February 7, 2025 Label: Jagjaguwar— 69———— 28 — 43 75 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

EPs I Don't Want to Let You Down (2015)

Singles "Like I Used To" (with Angel Olsen, 2021)

Other contributions Lent her voice to the Corona "Find Your Beach" campaign, covering Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" April 2009: "Coming Home", written by Jeremy Joyce, for the feature film Woman's Prison (vocals and guitar) August 2009: "Kettering", "Thirteen", "Two", and "Shiva" on Hospice by the Antlers (vocals) 2010: Van Etten contributes vocals to two tracks on Beirut's third studio album The Rip Tide March 2011: "Think You Can Wait" by the National, from the soundtrack to the film Win Win (backing vocals) December 2012: A cover of Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do" was recorded with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks for the season 3 finale of Boardwalk Empire, "Margate Sands" December 2012: "Prisoners", with J Mascis, on The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver November 2013: "Serpents" by Van Etten featured in The Walking Dead season 4, episode 4. January 20, 2014: Writing and performing in the film Song One, starring Anne Hathaway February 2014: Producing, recording, and performing a cover of the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??" for the Amazon children's TV show Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street April 2015: Featured on the song "Sunshine on My Back" by the National, from the Trouble Will Find Me recording sessions July 2015: End credit songwriting for the film Tig May 2016: Appeared on the Grateful Dead tribute album Day of the Dead, singing "To Lay Me Down", credited to Perfume Genius, Sharon Van Etten & Friends September 2016: Scored the Katherine Dieckmann film Strange Weather, which starred Holly Hunter and appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter'''s Jon Frosch praised Van Etten's contributions to the film: "The authentic-feeling Southern ambience, enhanced by Sharon Van Etten's low-key, country-inflected score, is one of the film's most potent assets." December 2016: Featured in an acting role as Rachel in The OA, which debuted on Netflix on December 16, 2016 2017: Her cover version of "The End of the World" is featured as the lead single of Resistance Radio: The Man in the High Castle Album, a cover album produced by Danger Mouse and Sam Cohen as the companion album of the TV series' reimagining of 60's sound. May 2019: Featured on the song "The Pull of You" by the National, from the studio album I Am Easy to Find. June 2019: Performed at the Glastonbury Festival. September 2019: Covered Irving Berlin's song "Let's Face the Music and Dance" on Jeff Goldblum's I Shouldn't Be Telling You This. 2020: Featured on the opening track "Lemon" off of Local Natives EP, Sour Lemon. 2020: Featured on the title track "Impossible Weight" by Deep Sea Diver – No. 29 Adult Alternative Songs 2021: Featured on "Sad Mezcalita" by Xiu Xiu, the opener on their studio album Oh No. 2021: Featured on the track "Nest" off of Jomoro's studio album Blue Marble Sky. 2022: Featured on the Superchunk song "If You're Not Dark" from the studio album Wild Loneliness 2024: Featured on the King Hannah songs "Big Swimmer" and "This Wasn't Intentional" from the studio album Big Swimmer 2025: Featured on the Spiritual Cramp song "You've Got My Number" from the studio album Rude''.

Awards and nominations + Year Association Category Nominated work Result Ref 2019 AIM Independent Music Awards Best Independent Track "Seventeen" 2020 Libera Awards Best Alternative Rock Album Remind Me Tomorrow 2022 Video of the Year "Like I Used To"