Angel Olsen, Master Of Solitude
When Angel Olsen proclaims she is "hiding out inside my head" on the first track of her epic fourth record, All Mirrors, she may as well be announcing an earthquake, or a tidal wave — a tectonic force of change. These five lightning words arrive after a moment of quiet, of Olsen reflecting on a relationship's twilight. Thunder follows. And as if passing through Alice's looking-glass only to shatter it, Olsen grows to her most towering height, strong in the storm, her voice absorbing the gravitational force by which this baroque maelstrom of synth drones and strings, "Lark," will crash and ebb for more than six minutes. Clear above the turbulence, Olsen claims a gargantuan space. She is steadfast, resolute, alone.
Olsen's songs treat solitude like a promised land, where simply breathing under a clear blue sky can feel as dazzling
