Sharon Van Etten (Photo by Ryan Pfluger)
Sharon Van Etten’s debut album, because i was in love, has an upcoming anniversary later this month. To celebrate, Sharon livestreams a performance of the album in its entirety from her home in Los Angeles via Seated on Friday, May 29.
Most recently, Sharon and Joshua Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) collaborated on a cover of Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?,” which premiered not long ago in Hulu’s new TV series, The Great. Earlier this month, they presented the song’s video, directed by Matthew Daniel Siskin.
Filmed in quarantine, the video features heartening clips of Sharon and Joshua with their families, as well as glimpses of Nick Lowe and Zach Dawes. Throughout the track, Sharon’s magnetic voice intertwines with Josh’s over slide guitar and laid-back percussion. As the instrumentation quickens, their vocals swell into a theatrical climax.
Joshua Homme explained their collaboration further:
“I went to a Courtney Barnett Valentine’s Day concert that Sharon Van Etten was playing as one of a veritable buffet of musicians. She opened her mouth and my mind exploded — that voice, like fresh cream… with a hint of fine grit. When a week later the opportunity arose to sing with her, I jumped at it. This was of course before we had any idea that the world would be going into hiding for months. Recording this song had nothing to do with what we’d be going through… until we started going through it. In these times, it’s a blessing to feel lucky even for a moment… and I feel lucky to have been able to work with Sharon, Zach Dawes, Michael Shuman, Matthew Siskin, and our families.
“When you’re shooting at home you start out shooting only what you love. Then you get tired and stop. This video doesn’t deal with anything outside of what’s happening within its own little world we created — only what’s happening inside two households connected by what they love the most, nothing more,” he added.
Watch the official music video for “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?” by Sharon Van Etten featuring Josh Homme on YouTube:
A portion of the upcoming livestream concert’s proceeds benefits Sharon’s band and crew as well as the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), which is working to secure financial support to preserve the national ecosystem of independent venues and promoters.
“I wrote my debut album, because i was in love, in a sort of self imposed quarantine — alone with an acoustic guitar in my parents basement,” Sharon said. “With the album’s anniversary approaching and most of us still in a stay at home mode, I thought it would be meaningful to play the entire album live, from start to finish, in the way it was conceived — solo, with only my acoustic guitar.”
Sharon Van Etten
Seated
Friday, May 29
Show @ 5pm ET
$12/$15
$25 Poster Merch Bundle
All ages