Album | Angel Olsen – My Woman

Angel Olsen is one of those people, one of those musicians whose every utterance seems to have profound and passionate meaning. Her music warrants a helmet, a bulletproof vest and some serious training to not be affected by. Quite simply she is a very precious songwriter making extremely valuable modern guitar pop rock. She has a voice that takes you to places, both emotional and physical.
MY WOMAN starts with a gentle way of easing us in. Olsen’s voice rolling softly in rather than blowing the doors apart. Don’t worry, those moments come a little later, and boy does she howl when she gets going. She has a wide range of vocal possibilities all the way from tender lullaby right up to ferocious screaming. That she so ably flicks from one to another is worth a mention and displays her ability for vocal gymnastics. More than the actual technique is the way it almost always perfectly fits the moment and the surrounding music. But these songs are her soul, fine songs that they are the album barely outs a foot wrong.
Olsen is now looking sideways at the finest songwriters of her generation. Let’s hope she keeps going, as her career trajectory seems for now to be an ever ascending slope. Epic songs ‘Sister’ and ‘Woman’ are truly stunning works of a woman that has found a frighteningly inspired and intoxicating vein of form. The album may have a few small dips, but it’s not far from being a perfect album. Don’t be surprised, this woman is THAT good!