Angel Olsen – Aisles (EP)

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Dream-pop indie star, Angel Olsen, is releasing her new EP, Aisles, via the label Jagjaguwar. Aisles is a five track collection of covers of 80’s & 90’s hits, close to Olsen’s heart. Angel Olsen has kept the integrity of each song, while folding in her own cosmic inspiration for a new emotional experience in every note.

Tracklist:

1.Gloria

2.Eyes Without A Face

3.Safety Dance

4.If You Leave

5.Forever Young

OVERALL RATING: 4½ stars

Angel Olsen – Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories (Compilation Album)

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Angel Olsen has announced a new box set called Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories. The release—out May 7 via Jagjaguwar—includes her last two albums, All Mirrors and Whole New Mess, as well as a bonus LP with bonus tracks, alternate takes, remixes, a cover of Roxy Music’s “More Than This,” and more. The box set will also come with a 40-page book. “It feels like part of my writing has come back from the past, and another part of it was waiting to exist,” Olsen said of the box set in a statement.

Among the tracks on the Far Memory bonus LP are Johnny Jewel’s remix of “All Mirrors” and Mark Ronson’s remix of “New Love Cassette.” There’s also an alternate version of “Whole New Mess” called “It’s Every Season (Whole New Mess)”.

Tracklist:

1.Lark

2.All Mirrors

3.Too Easy

4.New Love Cassette

5.Spring

6.What It Is

7.Impasse

8.Tonight

9.Summer

10.Endgame

11.Chance

12.Whole New Mess

13.Too Easy (Bigger Than Us)

14.(New Love) Cassette

15.(We Are All Mirrors)

16.(Summer Song)

17.Waving, Smiling

18.Tonight (Without You)

19.Lark Song

20.Impasse (Workin’ For The Name)

21.Chance (Forever Love)

22.What It Is (What It Is)

23.All Mirrors (Johnny Jewel Remix)

24.New Love Cassette (Mark Ronson Remix)

25.More Than This

26.Smaller

27.It’s Every Season (Whole New Mess)

28.Alive and Dying (Waving, Smiling)

OVERALL RATING: 4½ stars

Angel Olsen – Whole New Mess (Album)

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Whole New Mess is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Angel Olsen, released on August 28, 2020 on Jagjaguwar. Recorded by Olsen and engineer Michael Harris in a converted church, the album features tracks from her 2019 album, All Mirrors, arranged in a more intimate style.

Whole New Mess was recorded over ten days in October 2018 with engineer Michael Harris. The pair worked in isolation in the town of Anacortes, Washington, recording in a converted Catholic church. Olsen would use the church’s corridors to create a natural echo effect on her vocals.

The album was recorded prior to Olsen’s 2019 studio album, All Mirrors, which features many of the same compositions in a different form: “When we made [Whole New Mess], I was still processing a lot of the songs, so for me, it’s harder to listen to this record than it is for me to listen to All Mirrors. When I recorded All Mirrors, other people had their hands in the pot, which separated me from the songs. I could get into them in a distant way. On Whole New Mess I’m feeling every feeling that they evoke.”

The album was written following the collapse of a romantic relationship, with Olsen noting: “I was really depressed. I had no idea whether the songs were good. They were just about my life. I could have recorded them at home and kept them as demos, but I knew Michael [Harris] was someone I could be depressed in front of, who would help me to explore it in different ways. It was such an emotional process.”

Tracklist:

1. “Whole New Mess”
2. “Too Easy (Bigger Than Us)”
3. “(New Love) Cassette”
4. “(We Are All Mirrors)”
5. “(Summer Song)”
6. “Waving, Smiling”
7. “Tonight (Without You)”
8. “Lark Song”
9. “Impasse (Workin’ for the Name)”
10. “Chance (Forever Love)”
11. “What It Is (What It Is)”

OVERALL RATING

4 stars

Angel Olsen – All Mirrors (Album)

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Reverb and its vocal cousin, vibrato, are aural forms of witchcraft, imparting both haunt and gravitas to the songs they touch. Angel Olsen, once of Chicago, now of North Carolina, has long had a grain silo of a voice, pre-loaded with its own digital effects. On her fourth album she ramps up the drama, adding yet more reverb and throwing in lush orchestral arrangements.

In the wings, a stripped-down demo version of the same album awaits release. For now, it’s all feathers, catgut and gale-force nine winds, with Olsen singing of heartbreak, image-projection and even selfhood itself. Whose version of you is correct, she asks, in various ways. String sections are often the last refuge of the indie rock scoundrel seeking heft for thin songs. But here, on tunes like New Love Cassette or What It Is, the scything strings undercut the melodies with a purpose.

Even though these arrangements are not gratuitous, and All Mirrors is beautifully wrought, it never quite devastates. More weirdness would have helped, and less default goth-pop. Strangely, Olsen’s voice gets a bit lost in the mix, a little too ill-defined, atmospheric and understated to stand up to the operatics surrounding her.

Tracklist:

1.Lark
2.All Mirrors
3.Too Easy
4.New Love Cassette
5.Spring
6.What It Is
7.Impasse
8.Tonight
9.Summer
10.Endgame
11.Chance

OVERALL RATING

4 stars