- Genre: chamber pop, pop rock, indie rock
- Release: 2019
- Songs: 11
- Score: 9 (solid nine)
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When I first heard All Mirrors’ lead single Lark, I initially thought that the originally simple, folky, and cute Angel Olsen had fallen into the claws of an evil producer. The big-sounding instrumentals, the dramatic progression, and the layers and layers and layers of things going on with reverb just made me worry about the result of this record. Fortunately, I was wrong.
All Mirrors has in fact more production and instrumentation invested in it than its predecessor, the outstanding My Woman from 2016. Lark is perhaps the most orchestrated track in the whole album. In that set of things, All Mirrors is wonderfully crafted and is a new approach to Angel Olsen‘s beautiful voice and songwriting.
Producer John Congleton (Swans, Lana del Rey, Sky Ferreira) did not make excessive use of synths, strings, and gigantic arrangements. That might be feeling at first sight. All Mirrors definitely sounds bigger but not too big. More instruments come in and out as ever before, but that is a good thing, an evolution in Angel Olsen’s sound.
Music progressions, along with many different instruments (strings, keys, choirs, percussion) are included in several passages of the album. That is part of the new stuff that Angel Olsen is delivering on All Mirrors. That can be heard in the aforementioned Lark, the title track All Mirrors, and also on the album closer Chance. But there are also other simple songs like New Love Cassette, Spring, and What It Is that have a lighter approach, where we can find a more traditional Angel Olsen on some sweet vocals.
The second part of the album sounds a little more dreamy to me. Songs like Tonight and Endgame are really beautiful, while the closing waltz, Chance is a favorite piece of mine. Even though it starts as a really big-sounding record, All Mirrors ends up being a soft album, enjoyable and different from anything the indie singer has put out before.
In my opinion, the best record came out in 2019. Pure magic.
Click here to listen to All Mirrors, Angel Olsen on Spotify.
It is also available in YouTube: Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
Some videos for you to enjoy:
All Mirrors – Angel Olsen:
Lark – Angel Olsen: