Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Music Review: Angel Olsen

ANGEL OLSEN
Halfway Home (Bathetic)
Angel Olsen sounds like Patsy Cline after having fallen too pieces. Her songs sound so aching and so despairingly melancholy that you'll actually enjoy the bit of sadness it will bring to your day. This aspect of Angel's songwriting is underlined by her vocal delivery which soars and dives as her heart commands. Halfway Home contains songs whose subject matter us puny humans have been enduring since the beginning of our time on this shitty planet. It’s a real bummer, girlfriend.

“Safe in the Womb” is a sparse song with Angel on guitar singing about safety, comfort and the feeling of protection. “Free” harkens back to an old school swing and "The Waiting” is a classic, sad country tale of lost love. These, and the rest, represent what's best about folk and old country and the Appalachian and blues tradition of American music. It's what the awful CMT should be rewarding. It's soulful, haunting, love damaged and reminds us that things will get better, but not much and not for long—Jayne Wayne [Angel Olsen]

Read more reviews, and always...always read Reglar Wiglar!

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