Hi y'all,

Last night at Vidiots, Sharon Van Etten told me (and about 200 fans) about taking a “sonic trust fall.” The work that led to her new album Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory obliterated her comfort zone and insisted that it was time to try something new. Before the pieces began falling into place, Sharon was already on a mission to get more synths, drums, electronics, and collaboration in her life. So she had to get the band together: Synth queen Teeny Lieberson, fretless bass virtuoso Devra Hoff, and percussionist Jorge Balbi. An informal “jam session” (the expression makes them laugh) in the desert produced two songs; Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory was born.

But let’s rewind real quick, for 20 years Sharon worked alone (fearlessly). She examined every dark corner of her mind, and took on every creative and studio challenge that was thrown at her. The only time she enjoyed the support of a band was when it was time to play live.

In a way, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory is a debut album. First, it's a complete sonic departure from everything she's made in the past (synths! drum machines! etc.!). And it truly is her first time writing and recording with a group. The first time she’s had the chance to find a sound with other artists. She and her new band talk constantly about overlapping energetically and aesthetically. The connection they share is obvious, confidence and swagger are all over these recordings created by her “chosen family.”

Last night’s event opened with a short documentary about the making of Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, after which the team shared a couple of videos recorded at The Church Studio where they tracked and mixed the album: “Afterlife” and “Trouble.” Sharon loves that they all came from very different places to make something more beautiful than the sum of their parts.

I fell in love with the album as soon as I pressed play, but hearing about it directly from the source took my affection to a whole new level. Every element of the piece — from the instruments to the musicians playing those instruments — is a character inhabiting a freshly created world.

And soon you’ll be able to experience it for yourself. Not only will Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory perform at The Wiltern Theater on May 21st (details here), but they’re taking another sonic trust fall with us by bringing it Live on KCRW (May 22nd). Mark those calendars.

Be well, and consider taking a trust fall of your own this week (sonic or otherwise).

Beth Gibbons: KCRW Live From Apogee Studio

Between Coachella 2025 sets, Portishead’s Beth Gibbons and her current cast of sonic collaborators are here with an exclusive live performance. Each track is richly instrumented, often relying on droning and trance-like rhythms to cast a fitting backdrop for Gibbons’ vocals — haunting and soul stirring as ever — as she grapples with life, love, impermanence, and more.

Carve out some undivided attention and dig into this hypnotic session of highlights from Gibbons' 2024, debut solo LP Lives Outgrown: “Floating on a Moment,” “Tell Me Who You Are Today,” “Rewind,” and more. Plus, the early 2000s deep cut “Tom the Model.” It's all comin' atcha live from Bob Clearmountain’s Apogee Studio. 

Seun Kuti: KCRW Guest Selector set

Ready the throne, because Afrobeat royalty is in the building. Seun Kuti, son of Fela, has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father's political and musical legacy as the leader of Fela's former band Egypt 80.

In the midst of touring North America behind their 2024 album, Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) — almost directly in the mid point between their Coachella Friday sets (4:05 PM at the Outdoor Theatre) — Kuti swings by MBE to chat about music as resilience (and resistance) and to share five songs that inspired him during the recording process for the new(ish) record.

A LIVE, mid-Coachella week Guest DJ mix from HAAi

Aussie-native producer HAAi — specialist in the field of technically exquisite, emotionally expansive, and psychedelically tilted dance music — returns to spin her second FREAKS ONLY Guest DJ mix. 

Scrub to 01:03:47 for a wild sonic ride, then cool down with HAAi in conversation with FREAKS ONLY host Travis Holcombe about calibrating Coachella sets, exploring new musical ideas via her latest recordings, and the finer points of surviving after-hours DJ marathons. 

Catch HAAi on Saturday at Coachella weekend two, where she’ll be spinning solo in the Yuma tent (1 PM) and back to back with Fcukers in the Quasar tent (6 PM).

Lost and mapped: The rich history of LA’s independent record stores

Synonymous to many with his Big Lebowski character The Dude, actor Jeff Bridges gives off a similar freewheeling, magnetic energy IRL. We doubt you'll find it all too surprising that the great and good archivist record label Light in the Attic recently issued a collection of previously unreleased Jeff Bridges (and friends) jams. They sound like what you think they sound like, except they're even odder and more delightful that what you're currently imagining.

Bridges joins now to tell us more about Slow Magic, near death experiences, acting, and more.