In a small London record store on a wet Sunday afternoon, Angel Olsen sits at the counter, dressed in double denim, his legs dangling, his guitar on his lap, ready to play a handful of songs from his new album Big Time. “Do you do this often?” he says, to a crowd of about 30 people, most in a state of silent fear. She smiled. “Because I’m sure not.”
She plays music in front of people for the first time in a long time. In fact, it’s the first time he’s played these songs in front of people. Big Time is an intimate album, telling deeply personal stories of romance and pain, and Olsen lets himself be more open than ever. Some of the songs require his voice to be so low that he falls into a whisper. You have to get close to catch it.
We meet for coffee the day after the show. “I was very nervous,” she says, which surprises me. He doesn’t look nervous. Olsen released his first studio album, Half Way Home, in 2012, and each album that followed, Burn Your Fire for No Witness, and then My Woman, increased the stakes in terms of ambition and success. . In All Mirrors 2019, he staggered into the darkness of a bad relationship, his ups and downs playing out in a melodramatic thrill and soaked in strings. When Olsen plays live with a full band, usually with much larger crowds than those at the record store, she seems very confident. “It’s different when you’re on stage, because you’re away from everyone and there are a lot of people. It’s harder when everyone looks at you, ”he says. “I’m very used to living my life in a different way. It’s almost just a story I do to make a living. And then I said, ‘Shit, people are here to see me.'”
‘I follow my obsessions. I think that’s why I end up opting for different genres’ … Angel Olsen. Photography: Angela Ricciardi
When he lives his life in a different way, at home in Asheville, North Carolina, he doesn’t play music often. Instead, he says, “I follow my obsessions. I think that’s why I end up leaning into different genres, because the obsession makes it new.” 80s, though he admits that jumping through different genres makes it difficult to create a consistent list.
Big Time is another way out. Its sound is reminiscent of American and country music that has always flowed through its various incarnations. The obsessions this time were Neil Young, Big Star, Dolly Parton and Dusty Springfield. The title is ambiguous: does it mean success, is it a point of emphasis, a statement of certainty, or all three? – but the songs are clearer, softer, more personal and more direct.
They were written during a period full of events in Olsen’s life. She was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, as one of eight children, after being adopted at age three by her adoptive parents, who were already retired when she arrived. Last year, he met a new partner and, at the age of 34, made the decision to introduce himself to his family and his followers. His father died days later; his mother a few weeks after him. Big Time is as rich in love as it is in loss, often reflecting on both in the same four minutes of song.
In his other days, Olsen has said that he writes with character and that his songs are not autobiographical. She has worn wigs and costumes and has been evasive in interviews, even issuing fact sheets before reporters met her. Now there is none of that. “I felt a little more comfortable talking about love and how I fell in love,” she says. What made her feel this way? “I think after losing my parents, it all came to the fore. Who cares about these other issues in my life? It made me feel calm. I’m old too. I’m 35. I’m getting used to it. “As you grow older,” he says, “you can feel sorry for yourself or learn to laugh more deeply.”
When I was writing these songs, did I know that I would be so open about what inspired them? She shakes her head. “I’m still like, ‘Am I crazy?’ I didn’t know I was going to tell everyone that. ” There is an accompanying film to the album, a collaboration with director Kimberly Stuckwisch, who made the video for Olsen’s anthem duet with Sharon Van Etten, Like I Used To. The film compiles videos of singles in a longer narrative, inspired by a dream Olsen had the day his mother died. It’s a weird fable with touches of Twin Peaks and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; at one point, he includes a voice message he received from his mother. “It’s definitely scary. But I want to talk about my mother, and I want her to be a tribute to her. I also wanted to share her voice with the world.” She smiles, a little sad. Not even a year ago his mother died. “I just hope she doesn’t go back to her grave about it.”
“It’s almost just a story that I do for a living. And then I say, ‘Oh shit, people are here to see me.’ ‘Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen Photo courtesy of Chalk Press
Olsen’s partner, Beau Thibodeaux, makes an appearance, pushing Olsen to come to his family. “That wasn’t based on reality,” he says. “It simply came to our notice then. But it’s about facing the fear of losing everyone. “In addition to co-starring in the film, Thibodeaux also co-wrote the song Big Time, which is close to a love song like Olsen has never done before.” [Thibodeaux] they were there for me when my mother died. It’s scary to share it with a couple, because you never know what’s going to happen, but I’ll never forget that they were the ones who were there for me. “
Had Olsen ever worked with a partner before? “She was dating Meg Duffy [of Hand Habits] for a few months, and we sang a song together, but I had never written a song with anyone. ” Olsen tells the story of his relationship with Duffy; the couple had been friends for years and had been touring together, but suddenly it was hard for him to be with Duffy and he couldn’t understand why. Had it ever occurred to you that it might be romantic? “I mean, I was flirting with it. I just assumed nothing would happen. Because I was too scared, really.” Then the pandemic began. “I said, well, if it’s the end of the world, this is the time. So when that didn’t work out, it was heartbreaking.”
They are on good terms now, but during that lovelessness Olsen felt like he was 15 again. “It hurt. But then I went ahead and fell in love again, and that’s what happens, I guess.” Last year, Olsen posted several pictures of Thibodeaux on Instagram, titled “My beautiful, I’m gay.” She says she wasn’t particularly taken into account. “We were just lying in bed, and they said, ‘What if you go out today?'”
But he had to think about writing. “The way I identify is more pansexual. I connect with a human being “. He chose the word gay,” because people don’t say the word ‘gay’. They’re so scared of him. Maybe that puts me in a box, “he shrugs, but ways there is little danger. Olsen is temporarily working on a screenplay, although he is very much in the early stages. “Big surprise: there’s death,” he says.
When Olsen talks about the stories that Big Time reported, he wonders if he might regret his new frankness. “I feel really strong about things and then I change my mind,” he says, and laughs. Have you changed your mind about this? “Not yet. But I’m sure when I make the next record, I’ll try to fix everything I’ve fucked up on this one.” She smiled. The thought doesn’t seem to bother her at all.
Big Time premieres on June 3 in Jagjaguwar