Album Review: Angel Olsen Is Every Woman In “My Woman”
Nowadays, trying to make your mark on the music industry is a divided effort. You are either especially original or a micro-version of another artist. Luckily, Angel Olsen is especially original. Listening to My Woman will leave you in awe as you hear a voice that can make you rise up to the stars in glory or cry amongst them in dimmed disappointment. Either way, what is important about Angel Olsen is that she will make you feel, and what is magnificent about her is that she will make you feel like a woman.
Sister
Love is not easy, and Angel Olsen’s album reveals how hard it can be for the female counterpart in both a brimming and dying romance. From “Shut Up Kiss Me” to “Sister”, My Woman feels like a picture book into the insecurities and strengths that come with being a woman. Between wanting to be loved by another person or struggling to love yourself, women’s confidence can tussle between losing and winning battles, especially in the “relationship department”. Yet, despite the sentimental highs and lows, the overarching feel to the album is like a bath. It washes away any moment you felt alone, crazy, or too flawed to be loved. The record is a 10 track spiritual uplift through both joy and pain, which makes Olsen a voice that can give heart to every form of rock n’ roll. Whether it be grunge, punk, and indie, this star encompasses the Rock genre.
Shut Up Kiss Me
When I hear Angel Olsen’s music it feels like a rollercoaster ride of love, adventure, and rock n roll. From folk to surf, this album serves all the rock n roll alternatives that have arisen since the classic 70’s. It does not hold back any punches in showing the glamor of an electric guitar and a good drum hook. Seeing Olsen’s voice transpire through all forms of rock is driven to epic proportions by having her delivery sound like a beautifully, frustrated “1950’s” housewife. Her vocals carry a pinch of tension in every lyric that makes her sound like a woman ready to combust in either tears, rage, or whimsical bliss. Either way, I mention the “1950’s” because she carries the colorful elegance and undertone vibrato associated with the era. Yet, there is an edginess to Olsen’s style that assures that for all grace, she knows how to strip down facades and reveal the ugliness of being a woman in a world that does not treat her equal.
Its hard to describe how sentimental this album is to me. It is one of those records that every fan speaks upon as “the one they turn on to get a rise of emotions and make sure they can still feel”. There is no numbness or apathy when approaching My Woman. Olsen is lyrically and vocally raw and theatrical in offering up every nerve that has manifested in her life over being herself. Thankfully, she gives musical confidence to both herself and her listeners.
Favorite Tracks:
Shut Up Kiss Me: this song is for every woman that just wants to be touched by her man. Its about physically feeling loved, which can be equally important as to being spiritually adored. Moreover, its rhythms are playfully grunge, which makes you want to pull down your hair and pull in your lover.
Pops: Olsen’s voice sounds like a whimpering flower in this song; stunning and dwindling. She beautifully sings like a woman waiting for the good times to return, but still living in her current darkness. We all have pictured a better day while in tears, and Pops is a musical embodiment of that common, human moment. The piano- driven track will leave you in tears so make sure to hear it in private or before you want to pretend you were crying lol!.
Not Gonna Kill You: between the melody and the beating drums. this song can put listeners’ in a psychedelic trance. It induces an abstract euphoria that contrasts its darker, concrete lyrics on confronting a lover on whom he deems a friend or foe in his inner circle.
Never Be Mine: this surf rock composition uses wavy sonics and the repetition of “You’ll Never Be Mine” to encompass the frustration of loving someone whom is NOT into you. It is musically charming, but rightfully induces sadder sentiments over its theme.
For More Information on Angel Olsen and To Buy My Woman on September 2 Click Here.
