STACK #212 June 2022

MUSIC FEATURE

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Big Time by Angel Olsen is out now, including on JB exclusive transparent vinyl, via Jagjaguwar.

ANGEL OLSEN

New love and new grief wrap like a caduceus around Chicago alt-rock-folk artist Angel Olsen's new album, written during an era of massive personal change. Her parents passed away within weeks of one another, just after Olsen had come out to them; less than a month later, she was recording the phenomenally moving collection of songs which comprise sixth album BigTime .We put some questions to the revered singer-songwriter on how she pulled its threads together. Words Zoë Radas

There's a very beautiful harpsichord sound you use across the album. It gives this spiky prestige.What drew you to its sound? When we were recording All the Flowers, the guitar was doing this sort of whimsical classical tempo, and I think it was Jonathan Wilson’s idea... to add harpsichord. I liked how it gave the song a little sense of humour. Almost like entering a period piece at the end.

The timeline of your personal experiences surrounding this album’s creation is overwhelming to read, yet the album has deliberate time for each theme

time’, and in This Is How ItWorks you sing ‘It took a lot to get me here.’ Those lyrics have links to destiny – do you think fate or fateful journeys are a real thing in life?

The lapsteel on these songs has so much character that it’s difficult not to personify it. Do you think of instruments as having particular personalities you can call on? I think strings always make songs feel like a moment in a film, pedal steel takes you into a saloon... Yes, I think that’s the beauty of making music – sound can create visuals, and movement in all directions. The album is going to sound extra gorgeous on vinyl. Do you have a vinyl collection, and how did it start? I do. It started in Chicago, with Jackie de Shannon and Skeeter Davis...

and feeling – it never rushes or overstuffs a moment. Did you feel like time expanded or contracted for you over this stage of your life, and how did it affect the album? I think that the

I do think that while we have control over how we act and what we do, there are emotional and physical events that

I think that's the beauty of making music – sound can create visuals, and movement in all directions

feel… sometimes meant to happen. At least for me, I’m learning to take what’s happened and sort of see the good things that have come through. It’s not

expansion of time during the last few years for me has certainly led to me letting go of overthinking, and allowing this record to just be relaxed and focused on the words and the songs’ simple melodies.

Top to bottom: Pop country stars Jackie de Shannon and Skeeter Davis, the first two artists to enter Angel Olsen's personal vinyl collection

always easy, and being a writer I do often ask myself if the events in my life have meaning to me, have some kind of symbolism, or if it’s just my psyche, the way I see how things happen.

Continue reading the full Q&A online at stack.com.au

In BigTime you sing about getting ‘here on

66 JUNE 2022

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