Album Review: Angel Olsen Shows Life Goes Through “Phases”
Angel Olsen’s Phases is beautiful, intimate, and thus a telescope into your soul. Every human being goes through phases, but not every person can show the trials and triumphs of growing quite like Angel Olsen. While Phases is a compilation of Olsen’s rarities and music outtakes, it strings along like a fluid, fluorescent look into what it is to grow, especially as an empowered woman.
Angel Olsen – Special (Official Video)
First, I have to say, if Phases is the tracks Olsen “tossed” then I am dumbfounded by her talent. If such beauty is what you leave behind then I cannot imagine what else she has coming forward. My Woman was sonic and spiritual excellence; nosediving into the psyche of a woman growing her femininity as a strength and her self as something to believe in. Tracks like, “Endless Roads”, “Sans”, and “All Right Now” plays like sung videos into the memories and thoughts of someone accepting life goes through phases. In some ways, we can all divide our life into chapters with beginnings and ends that pushes us to grow for better or worse. Yet, Olsen ups her lyrical nuance to show that seeing life as a series of phases, especially in terms of relationships is not easy to digest. “How Many Disasters”, “Only With You” and “California” are just a few of the songs that show settling into the new dynamics and expressions of love that enter your bond can be hard. Changing locations, dreams, and even personalties are normal, life hiccups that can burst a person’s comfort “bubble”. Yet, Olsen’s innate capacity to inject longing into her whimsical, wailing voice and melodies reveals how okay it is to not be okay.
Love grows and, in that, how it manifests can change to the pleasure and displeasure of your heart. Yet, Angel Olsen’s approach to the murkiness of this topic through clear, guitar-driven tracks and a voice that spells sadness and wonder in every verse, makes Phases a must-have album. Olsen knows how to make the melancholy appear like a gorgeous aspect of nature, of which maybe it is? People always say you need the sad times to show you the good, of which Angel Olsen’s Phases is a delicate play to that notion, and one you can buy on November 10 by Clicking Here.
