**Spectral folk gem from the US tape underground** This assured and moving debut from Angel Olsen first emerged on cassette last year and has since become a word-of-blog hit, coming to the attention of Pitchfork and prompting comparisons with Joanna Newsom, Francoise Hardy, Beth Gibbons and Joni Mitchell along the way. It's difficult to pull off the eccentric, caterwauling folk thing without sounding irksomely cute and kooky, but Angel sidesteps all that with confidence and class. The recording is sparse - all you hear is her voice, her finger-picked guitar and the haunting ambience of the room they were recorded in - but resonant, and far from lo-fi. The shadow of Newsom really does loom large over proceedings, but there's an authority and power to Olsen’s tone and phrasing that demands she be appreciated on her own terms. Lyrically she expertly navigates the baldly emotional and the cryptic, elliptical, and the voice is really something special – it just has that classic, preternaturally mature air to it, by turns yearning and admonishing, vulnerable and attacking. Within minutes you’ll feel like you’ve known tunes like ‘If It’s Alive, It Will’ and ‘Drunk And With Dreams’ all your life, such is Olsen’s gift for nagging melody and memorably surreal turn of phrase. She’s a serious talent and this mini-album is highly recommended.
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**Spectral folk gem from the US tape underground** This assured and moving debut from Angel Olsen first emerged on cassette last year and has since become a word-of-blog hit, coming to the attention of Pitchfork and prompting comparisons with Joanna Newsom, Francoise Hardy, Beth Gibbons and Joni Mitchell along the way. It's difficult to pull off the eccentric, caterwauling folk thing without sounding irksomely cute and kooky, but Angel sidesteps all that with confidence and class. The recording is sparse - all you hear is her voice, her finger-picked guitar and the haunting ambience of the room they were recorded in - but resonant, and far from lo-fi. The shadow of Newsom really does loom large over proceedings, but there's an authority and power to Olsen’s tone and phrasing that demands she be appreciated on her own terms. Lyrically she expertly navigates the baldly emotional and the cryptic, elliptical, and the voice is really something special – it just has that classic, preternaturally mature air to it, by turns yearning and admonishing, vulnerable and attacking. Within minutes you’ll feel like you’ve known tunes like ‘If It’s Alive, It Will’ and ‘Drunk And With Dreams’ all your life, such is Olsen’s gift for nagging melody and memorably surreal turn of phrase. She’s a serious talent and this mini-album is highly recommended.
**Spectral folk gem from the US tape underground** This assured and moving debut from Angel Olsen first emerged on cassette last year and has since become a word-of-blog hit, coming to the attention of Pitchfork and prompting comparisons with Joanna Newsom, Francoise Hardy, Beth Gibbons and Joni Mitchell along the way. It's difficult to pull off the eccentric, caterwauling folk thing without sounding irksomely cute and kooky, but Angel sidesteps all that with confidence and class. The recording is sparse - all you hear is her voice, her finger-picked guitar and the haunting ambience of the room they were recorded in - but resonant, and far from lo-fi. The shadow of Newsom really does loom large over proceedings, but there's an authority and power to Olsen’s tone and phrasing that demands she be appreciated on her own terms. Lyrically she expertly navigates the baldly emotional and the cryptic, elliptical, and the voice is really something special – it just has that classic, preternaturally mature air to it, by turns yearning and admonishing, vulnerable and attacking. Within minutes you’ll feel like you’ve known tunes like ‘If It’s Alive, It Will’ and ‘Drunk And With Dreams’ all your life, such is Olsen’s gift for nagging melody and memorably surreal turn of phrase. She’s a serious talent and this mini-album is highly recommended.