Angel Olsen | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Raised in St. Louis, Missouri and later relocating to Chicago, Illinois, indie folk singer/songwriter Angel Olsen began performing in St. Louis coffee shops in her teenage years, eventually branching out and tapping into a network of like-minded artists. Olsen worked with California musician Emmett Kelly as part of his collective the Cairo Gang, singing harmonies on Bonnie "Prince" Billys 2010 album The Wonder Show of the World, as well as its 2011 follow-up, Wolfroy Goes to Town. In 2010, Olsen released Strange Cacti, a cassette of original Americana songs that was later reissued as a 12", both with Bathetic Records. Half Way Home, a spare album with understated arrangements and a homespun approach somewhere between 50s country crooners and her indie contemporaries, was issued with the same label in 2012. In early 2013, Olsen added drummer Josh Jaeger and bassist Stewart Bronaugh to flesh out her stripped-back sound, which added a brooding, garage rock appeal to her intimate music. Soon after forming the trio, Olsen returned to the studio with producer John Congleton to track sessions for her third album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness, which saw release in early 2014 via Jagjaguwar. The record was critically well-received and marked Olsens debut on the Billboard 200. By then resettled in Asheville, North Carolina, she expanded her sound still further on her fourth LP, 2016s My Woman, touring as a six-piece to support its release. Jagjaguwar followed it in 2017 with Phases, a compilation of Olsen rarities such as early demos and unreleased material from the My Woman sessions. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: Strange Cacti Released: 2011-04-11 Tracks: 6 Duration: 21:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Tiniest Lights (02:57) 2 If It’s Alive, It Will (03:22) 3 So That We Can Be Still (04:37) 4 Drunk and With Dreams (03:53) 5 Some Things Cosmic (02:54) 6 Creator, Destroyer (03:54) |
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: Half Way Home Released: 2012-09-04 Tracks: 11 Duration: 43:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Acrobat (03:37) 2 The Waiting (03:42) 3 Safe in the Womb (05:22) 4 Lonely Universe (07:22) 5 Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow (02:17) 6 Always Half Strange (02:49) 7 You Are Song (03:51) 8 Miranda (04:48) 9 The Sky Opened Up (04:07) 10 Free (02:29) 11 Tiniest Seed (03:29) |
| Half Way Home : Allmusic album Review : With Half Way Home, her first proper solo album following some lesser EP and cassette material, Chicago songwriter Angel Olsen constructs a landscape so starkly beautiful its surprising she can hide any of the emotional intricacies of her songs in a sound so wide open. Olsen spent some time collaborating with Bonnie "Prince" Billy on tour and singing on his records as part of the Cairo Gang, and while relating her sad-souled Americana songs to those of Bonnie Billys wouldnt be wrong, that lazy comparison doesnt really do justice to their complexity. Half Way Home is a collection of hidden moments and gracefully wounded sounds taking notes from decades of masterfully melancholic artists. The nostalgic bounce of "The Waiting" filters an upbeat indie folk arrangement through a heavy Roy Orbison lens, spotlighting the deep loneliness locked in what comes off as a sprightly mellow rocker. Angel flits between these shades of classic 50s icons like Orbison and Patsy Cline, echoes of Joni Mitchells 70s free-spirit wandering, and the more modernized approach shared by her indie contemporaries. On tracks like "Cant Wait Until Tomorrow" and "Always Half Strange," she manages to run through all of these styles, building from a disaffected deadpan to a soaring, yodeling crescendo. Olsen keeps the arrangements minimal for much of the album, but the more fleshed-out numbers like "Lonely Universe" and "The Sky Opened Up" have touches of 70s Euro-folk, with understated percussion, haunted vocal delays, and mumbling bass bringing out touches of Fairport Convention or even the muted sorrow of Sibylle Baier. Its the understatement that makes Half Way Home such a heart-wrenching and gorgeous listen. By album closer "Tiniest Seed," Olsen has laid out a transfixing set of tunes that fold back into a softy crushing whole. Bare-bones harmonies, restrained instrumentation, and Olsens brilliantly isolated musical persona result in an album to return to repeatedly, with new layers revealing themselves each time. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: Tim Kinsella Sings the Songs of Marvin Tate by Leroy Bach Released: 2013-12-03 Tracks: 13 Duration: 27:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Idolize (01:38) 2 The Crossing Guard (02:10) 3 Daddy Wants to Be a Robin (01:38) 4 Devonte’s in a Coma (01:55) 5 The Bus Is Coming (03:07) 6 Snowglobe (01:42) 7 All in My Head (01:55) 8 The Baseball Player’s Wife (04:05) 9 This Time (Not the Next Time) (02:48) 10 100 Kinds of Crazy (01:35) 11 Sidetracked in Miami (02:36) 12 God Ain’t Ready for You (00:32) 13 Never Finished Counting (01:51) |
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Burn Your Fire for No Witness Released: 2014-02-18 Tracks: 11 Duration: 44:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Unfucktheworld (02:05) 2 Forgiven/Forgotten (02:03) 3 Hi‐Five (02:57) 4 White Fire (06:55) 5 High & Wild (03:53) 6 Lights Out (04:27) 7 Stars (04:38) 8 Iota (03:27) 9 Dance Slow Decades (04:05) 10 Enemy (05:43) 11 Windows (04:07) |
| Burn Your Fire for No Witness : Allmusic album Review : When Angel Olsens proper debut, Half Way Home, materialized in 2012, its spare indie folk compositions and subtle references to the greats of 50s country congealed into a restless whole. The album was great, but something in the way the songs connected with each other suggested that Olsen had something far more complex to say that wasnt quite getting through with Half Way Home, despite its fantastically crafted offerings. With Burn Your Fire for No Witness, Olsen expands in all directions, fully reaching the depth of expression hinted at on her last album while still lingering in the restlessness and searching feelings that make all of her work so captivating. Production work from John Congelton adds a different dimension to Olsens sound, and many of the songs are bolstered with tasteful playing from drummer Josh Jaeger and bassist Stewart Bronaugh, as well as touches of organ, piano, and other various supportive sounds. More than anything, however, the heightened production and instrumentation just help to show how much Olsens songs have grown and how confident shes become as a performer, even in the space of one album. While still bearing some similarities to Roy Orbison or lesser-known mid-90s indie singer Edith Frost, Olsens voice feels more fearlessly her own here, stepping out of the muted shadows to bellow and wail like some wild hybrid of PJ Harvey and Emmylou Harris on a rocking track like "Forgiven/Forgotten" or the more country-seeped "Hi-Five." The heartbreaking seven-minute dirge "White Fire" follows obviously in the footsteps of Leonard Cohen, but manages to succeed in its ambitious tribute, dire and personal rather than simple mimicry. The album seamlessly strolls from soaring numbers like "Lights Out" into a more stripped-down second half before ending with the gorgeous and inspired "Windows." The songs multi-tracked vocals and pained melody get into different territory than anything else on the record, leaving the door open for whats to come next and suggesting that Olsen will continue to push her development exponentially with her next album. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: My Woman Released: 2016-09-02 Tracks: 10 Duration: 47:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Intern (02:45) 2 Never Be Mine (03:40) 3 Shut Up Kiss Me (03:21) 4 Give It Up (02:55) 5 Not Gonna Kill You (04:56) 6 Heart Shaped Face (05:32) 7 Sister (07:45) 8 Those Were the Days (04:17) 9 Woman (07:32) 10 Pops (04:41) |
| My Woman : Allmusic album Review : Following the acclaimed Burn Your Fire for No Witness and its expanded sound by two-and-a-half years, idiosyncratic singer/songwriter Angel Olsen broadens her palette even more on LP four, My Woman. Now with a long enough discography to note trends, shes made a steady transformation from tormented acoustic crooner to veritable indie rock songstress, if one still capable of the most intimate of deliveries. My Woman has the full range on display, including some electronics and extroversion not heard from her previously, as dictated by a loose story arc that follows the stages of a doomed relationship, all told from a womans point of view. The album was recorded live to tape with a five-piece backing band at Vox Studios in Los Angeles. In the ambivalent opener, "Intern," our heroine reluctantly decides to have one last go at love, foreshadowing with "Doesn’t matter who you are or what you do/Something in the world will make a fool of you." The songs atmospheric electronics, a first for Olsen, brace listeners for that expanded palette from the opening seconds. A couple of tracks later is the infectious "Shut Up Kiss Me." Also unlike any of her prior material, its an aggressive retro rocker that captures unbridled passion and lust ("I aint giving up tonight"). Co-dependency sets in on "Give It Up," and insecurity follows on "Not Gonna Kill You," both full-band, electric-guitar tunes. Arrangements get sparer as the subject matter gets more philosophical and despondent, such as on the artful "Sister," a dusty, nearly eight-minute epic that bargains with the future. Soon, "Those Were the Days" wonders "Will you ever know the same love that I know?" The breathy torch song is devoid of the singers trademark heart-aching yodel, forgoing past country styling for low-key jazz-rock. In stark contrast to some of the other songs on the record, the closer, "Pops," is a solo piano dirge that bookends the album with its somber opener ("Ill be the thing that lives in the dream when its gone"). While some tracks will surprise established fans, to say that My Woman is a departure or style swap for Olsen doesnt really take into account the album as a whole. The elements that are new here play out like a means to an end for a songwriter with a tale to tell, one chock-full of raw emotions. The songs stand just fine on their own, too, out of context. So, load up the playlists, but consider giving the album a proper front-to-back play through at least once for old times sake. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Phases Released: 2017-11-10 Tracks: 12 Duration: 39:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Fly On Your Wall (03:38) 2 Special (07:21) 3 Only With You (02:35) 4 All Right Now (02:59) 5 Sans (02:34) 6 Sweet Dreams (03:11) 7 California (03:50) 8 Tougher Than the Rest (03:31) 9 For You (01:54) 10 How Many Disasters (02:43) 11 May as Well (02:39) 12 Endless Road (02:04) |
| Phases : Allmusic album Review : Arriving a year after her Top 50 album My Woman, 2017s Phases compiles rarities spanning Angel Olsens prior output, including early demos, stand-alone singles, and unreleased material from the My Woman recording sessions. Having made a gradual but marked shift in her sound during that time, it offers tracks representing the sparer, country-inflected lo-fi of her earliest work as well as the full-band retro rock present on My Woman. "Special" is an example of the latter, a previously unreleased track omitted from the album. A song about wanting to be someone special ("someone else"), Olsens weary drawl hopes for something more without seeming to humor any expectation. The collections longest entry by far at over seven minutes, its highlighted by a seemingly sneering, almost two-minute guitar solo and band jam that closes the track. Coinciding with Donald Trumps first 100 days in office, "Fly on the Wall" was part of a Bandcamp-exclusive 100-song fundraiser for progressive causes. Its a yearning, full-band offering with psychedelic touches that reflect an emotional reality at odds with history. Elsewhere, "California" features Olsen’s highly stylized Half Way Home-era vocal delivery, with light accompaniment by guitar, bass, and drums. A 2013 B-side, its paired with A-side "Sweet Dreams," which was never included on an album until now. They lead into a doleful solo demo of Bruce Springsteens "Tougher Than the Rest," which was available as a limited-edition 7" with her cover of Roky Erickson’s "For You" also represented here. While likely of interest mostly to dedicated fans due to the eclectic nature of the recordings, it may also pique the curiosity of those less familiar with Olsens growing, distinctive catalog. | ||