Sharon Van Etten swung by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Friday night to perform her song “Mistakes.” Watch the musical number below.
Decked out with shaggy dark hair, heavy black eyeliner, and a head-to-toe red outfit, Van Etten resembled something like a modern Joan Jett as she passionately belted out the funk-rock tune. “Mistakes” is featured on the indie rocker’s brand new album We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, which was released on May 6th via Jagjaguwar. While it didn’t contain any advance singles, the album follows one-off tracks “Porta” and “Used to It.”
In Consequence’s official review of the album, Paolo Ragusa said Van Etten “is at an all time high, crafting a powerful journey on the subjects of motherhood, partnership, loving one’s self, and navigating the darkness that plagues both her individually and as part of the collective” and that the LP contains “a vulnerability that is so striking and gorgeous that it proves to be her most fulfilling work yet.”
Last month, the celebrated singer-songwriter shared her brief rendition of David Bowie’s classic “Starman” as featured in Return to Space, the Netflix documentary all about Elon Musk and the billionaire’s SpaceX program. She also recently covered Yoko Ono’s “Toyboat” as the opener for Ben Gibbard’s tribute album Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono, which also boasts contributions from Japanese Breakfast (“Nobody Sees Me Like You Do”), Death Cab for Cutie (“Waiting for the Sunrise”), Yo La Tengo (“There’s No Goodbye Between Us”), and more.
Meanwhile, Van Etten’s 20-date co-headlining “The Wild Hearts Tour” with Julien Baker and Angel Olsen kicks off this July in Vienna, Virginia. Grab tickets here.