#10 on the 2022 Bacon Top 31 — Angel Olsen
Big Time by Angel Olsen
When you have the voice of an angel, it can’t hurt to be given the literal name “Angelina” when you are born. Angel Olsen, born in St. Louis and now residing in Asheville, North Carolina, released her angelic sixth record, Big Time, on June 3, 2022. Except for a couple mid-tempo spots, it is a slow-burning, belly-warming album full of twang. On the sliding scale of “rock” to “country”, this album is just a hair to the right of early 90s band Mazzy Star’s She Hangs Brightly, and is every bit as good as that seminal 120 Minutes hit.
Olsen jumpstarted her career in the early 10s by touring with her friend Will Oldham, aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy, (#30 in 20091) as a backup vocalist and occasional duettist2. Oldham has worked with nearly anyone who’s anyone, and there are a billion worse ways to get your start than to be his #2. Since then, the five albums prior to Big Time have floated around the periphery of my musical world, but haven’t hit me in the same way that this one has.
Adopted at three, Olsen’s retired parents fostered her and her seven siblings while she grew up. 31 years later, Olsen came out as queer via Instagram to her fans and directly to her parents, and introduced her new partner, days before her dad passed away. Her mother died just a few weeks later. It is this short passage of time in April and May 2021 that fueled what became Big Time. “I felt a little bit more at ease with talking about love and how I fell in love,” she told The Guardian as the album was being released. “I think after losing my parents, that brought everything to the forefront. Who cares about these other troubles in my life? It made me feel quiet. I’m older, too. I’m 35. I’m getting used to the fact that things get more complicated as we get older. You can either feel sorry for yourself or learn how to laugh deeper.” This candor is broadcast throughout the album.
She co-produced Big Time herself with producer and Laurel Canyon celebrity Johnathon Wilson, who has worked on many Bacon Top 31 albums (most notably all the Father John Misty albums that have been featured over the years). The song featured above, “All the Good Times,” is great, and as the first song on the album, it gets a little more in your face once it hits its stride. The title song has been released twice, first as the cut from the album, and then as a non-album duet with indie country star Sturgill Simpson.The second to last track on the album, a slow burner called “Through the Fires,” is gorgeous.
Olsen also released a between-albums single, “Like I Used To,” a duet with Bacon Review favorite Sharon Van Etten (#13 in 2012, #4 in 2014, #5 in 2019). It’s only now, in writing this review, I realize what a confluence of events taking place in Olsen’s life at the time this song was released. Lyrics like “change address and draw a line, show my friends the silver lines, call my family just to know they’re there” take on all new meaning.
Big Time is a wonderful, Neko Case, kd lang-esque album, and love and loss and all things worthy of singing about. Angel Olsen may have been making music for a long while, but she’s only now hitting her stride. I can’t wait to hear what comes next.
1. Here’s a bit of quaintness for you: in my 2009 review of his album, Beware, I call attention to how unusual it is for Oldham to have a wikipedia page dedicated solely to his discography. My how times have changed.↩
2. Wow this session blew me away. And here’s a tour video of them as well. listen to her take the lead on that clip of her performing on the Bonnie “Prince” Billy tune “You Want That Picture” from 2011. I just melt when she hits that subtle yodel at 0:42.↩
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11. Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road
12. Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To the Sky by Porridge Radio
13. I Walked with You a Ways by Plains
14. The Last Goodbye by Odesza
15. A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile
16. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
17. Inside Problems by Andrew Bird
18. Laurel Hell by Mitski
19. Full Moon Project by Phosphorescent
20. Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
21. I Love You Jennifer B by Jockstrap
22. Too Much to Ask by Cheekface
23. Dripfield by Goose
24. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief
25. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
26. NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
27. Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
28. Live at KEXP, vol. 10 by Various Artists
29. All You Need Is Time by Daisy the Great
30. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
31. CAPRISONGS by FKA twigs
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