It’s always amazing to witness such a breathtaking evolution. Just a few years ago Angel Olsen was still recording small lo-fi pieces and now she’s released arguably one of the most important indie rock records of the year. Don’t think that it was such a simple transition, between the early EP days and MY WOMAN, we’ve got two amazing albums – folk-y Half Way Home in 2012 and two years later Burn Your Fire for No Witness, which explores different direction.
MY WOMAN is similar, yet really different to Olsen’s two previous albums. On the one hand we have songs like Give It Up or Shut Up Kiss Me, which could have easily been included on Burn Your Fire for No Witness. On the other, there are two almost 8-minute-long epics as well as a synth-y opener, Intern. The problem with this particular track, which also happened to be the first single, is that it was kind of misleading representation of the whole album. It’s a great song indeed, but just doesn’t fit the record, both sonically and thematically.
That being said, MY WOMAN is Olsen’s biggest and boldest statement yet. While it certainly is not flaw-free (B-side-ish Not Gonna Kill You or mentioned earlier Intern, I’m looking in your direction), it’s more than a proof that Angel Olsen is turning (or maybe has already turned?) into one of the biggest voices.
4 / 5