Big Time - Angel Olsen: Review
Angel Olsen
is an Asheville singer-songwriter who has spent the past decade as one of the most acclaimed artists in the indie and singer-songwriter scenes. After years of acclaim in the indie circuit she releaser her massively acclaimed breakout album My Woman in 2016. She followed that up with a shift into a grander instrumental prescence on the follow-up album All Mirrors in 2019, which also came with a stripped-back accompaniment the next year. Big Time is Olsen's 6th album which is not only a shift back into more reserved instrumentation, but also the sounds of country music.
Review By Lav:
If clout comes from being early to great artists, one of the artists I can rightfully claim that title for is Angel Olsen, though geography and some of the older indie kids at my middle school definitely had something to do with that. Since then seeing her breakout, evolve her style and continue writing great music the entire way through has been a treat as both a fan and a critic. I wasn't surprised by the fact that I liked all three of the records singles and I wasn't surprised by the fact that I liked the resulting album. So lets not waste any more time and just start talking about what makes it good.
As usual with good records this had a few good singles so lets cover them first. All The Good Times is clearly important for the album given it's the opener and lead single. It's a swaying country ballad with some wonderful nostalgia weaved in but the real treat is when the song hits its climax with both an incredibly memorable refrain and a wonderful rush of accompanying instrumentation. Next up was the title track Big Time which I said at the time was the most Courtney Barnett song that Angel Olsen had ever written and that's still the best way I can think of to describe it. It's certainly the most vocally omnipresent song on the record but rather than Courtney's sly sarcasm it gets a much more genuine Angel Olsen style sensation running throughout it.
Through The Fires comes later on the record and was the lyrical highlight of the singles as well as one of the many lyrical highlights on the album. It's the most reserved of the three songs but Angel's meditations on love and change are very compelling. Right when the song starts to feel like it might be wandering it hits that great bridge that transitions it into a wonderful swaying outro. And now that I've started on the lyrics we might as well keep it up because Angel's poetry is as potent as ever. Dream Thing is a great song about reconnecting with some after a long time, except it's happening in a dream that Angel is having. The version of the person Angel meets seems to have this magnetic effect on her and it plays out really interestingly. While it is a pretty stripped back country ballad I think paying close attention to it is a good idea that you'll find pretty rewarding.
This Is How It Works is all about Angel looking to somebody else for her own well-being with a measure of vulnerability that she's never been shy about showing on record. It doesn't necessarily have one of the most high reaching climaxes on the album but the lyrical details she includes are worthwhile. My favorite part of listening through to the album is getting to the closing track Chasing The Sun which has a really compelling sentiment of leaving all the bad things behind to, well to chase the sun. It's a genuinely heartwarming way to end the album off and the reserved instrumentation feels like the perfect accompaniment. The sentiment of the track has such an emotional pop that it really doesn't need anything more than this.
The whole second half of the album is pretty much one hit after another. Right Now is a big shift in attitude from the rest of the record with Angel insisting to someone that they need to move on. It has a great rush of electric guitars in the second half that reminds me of the phase up in intensity on her song Not Gonna Kill You. The My Woman throwbacks continue on Go Home where Angel dramatically calls out over a steady indie-rock instrumental punctuated by some simple but satisfying drums. There's also so much tension in the verses that make it all feel like it's building up to an explosion. Even though the finale is more reflection than eruption the progression of the song is still a very rewarding journey.
The record isn't completely flawless but it does mostly avoid any significant lulls. All The Flowers is a bit of a throwback for Angel with some choppy vocal recording that will sound familiar to anybody who likes DIY indie. It's a solid song but not necessarily one of the standout moments on the record I think the production does sort of hold it back. Ghost On is probably my least favorite song but the silver lining is that it does have a wonderful hook. The instrumental rush is exciting but only because of how sparse the instrumental is early on which gives me a little trouble trying to get behind it right away.
So yes, this is another excellent collection of tunes from Angel Olsen who continues to be both a potent songwriter with distinct sonic visions. These tracks are reserved but so many of them have moments where all their lackadaisical understated sway transforms into extremely exciting instrumental explorations. Big Time isn't here to re-define how we view country or singer-songwriter music, it's merely using those sounds to tell some wonderful, wonderful stories. 8/10
This cover is really nice but it needs some tweaks to make it great. I feel like it's so cramped with the text at the top. I love the photo and the colors but if you moved the text to the bottom right area it would feel much more balanced. The font fits the overall aesthetics of the image and everything reads simple and concise. It's a basic concept but well done. 6.5/10
