I always have to put aside time for Angel Olsen albums. Spend a whole afternoon just to listen through and exist in her work. If you are like me then you will need to carve out some space, because her latest EP starting with the track ‘Nothing’s Free’ could go on forever without you ever needing it to end. Her last record ‘Big Time’, made and recorded between years of personal growth, and also turmoil for Olsen, produces something new. It is an extension of exhaustion and getting to a point of no bullshit that has a very real beauty to it. Olsen’s full musical career up until now is mixed with a new depth of emotional maturity, and it spreads through this EP. Instead of being cohesive the tracks all stand out with their difference from one another, potentially marking yet another exciting change in direction for our angelic chanteuse. In our interview Olsen was lovely, laughed at me (gently) for being an unabashed fan, and was very introspective and assured in her answers. Following is our chat about the bones of the new music and where it is leading her now.

I want to talk about the Americana aspect of ‘Big Time’ and ‘Nothing’s Free’. I’ve always found that Americana as a loose genre has this edge that’s like a bleeding out like or a catharsis through storytelling. When you look back, what do you think attracted you to that specific nostalgic form?

Well, I think I was just listening to a lot of like Lucinda Williams and Townes van Zandt and things like that. And then I got really into Big Star again over the pandemic. I think this is like a mix of 70s rock and Americana to me. And then I had to choose between the songs ‘Chasing the Sun’ and ‘Nothing's Free’ to end the record. But I think ‘Nothing’s Free’ was a little too long. Those two songs come from another place, I feel like they belong to different like in a different world other than the record itself.

The other songs on this EP are all quite different as well

Yeah, it was kind of taking in a lot of different things and then if you've listened to the whole EP, you know, there is a bunch of other songs and they're also different. I just kind of was like, “Whoa”, these are all from different eras of my career and somehow I wrote them all around the same time. But that just happens to me sometimes.

Your career is at a point where it spans across a lot of albums now. In terms of recording practice you said that when you were recording ‘Big Time’ that because of everything else that was going on in your life at that moment it was first time that you just walked into the studio unprepared. Do you hear that difference reflected in the music?

No, because I think overthinking things that are simple is often a mistake people make, and I didn't really have time to overthink it. The songs were simple and they were already there. I just I didn't want anything to be over done or over produced. For me, I'm getting older and I think that I just want my voice to be centerpiece, and I'm not trying to be like a Queen or something. I just want that to be the truth on this record. I do think that when everyone plays the root, and there's a restraint in the sound, your voice can sing a lot bigger and perform a lot more. But when there's a lot going on musically, it can interfere with the messages or what the song is about. So I think I was just kind of like, these songs aren't designed for backflips. There are a lot of words and I really want them to be heard. Also a lot of the material was written before I had gone through all that stuff. So I wasn't emotionally affected by recording. It honestly helped me to have something to do. I think in the past, I had always spent time rehearsing with the band. This time three of the people who were going to be playing as the band on the record were people I'd never met. So I just sent them the demos and when we got there, we tried it.

I think there's a kind of sexiness to just being completely exhausted. For me, when I hear it, I'm like, oh, it's this is a song where it's just like, there's no bullshit anymore… It's like, when you're kind of like, you can't tell if you’re confident or completely just like, “I'm so fucking tired”.

I find it funny that you say that because I think musically in the background yes, it is restrained, but to me, compared to some of your earlier albums, it's one of the richest soundscapes that you've made. You got all this instrumentation, you’ve got strings, you've got brass. So when it's important to have musical elements surrounding the words but not trampling them, how did you navigate that restraint you wanted with the other musicians?

The string parts on the record are written by pianist and organist Drew Erikson, who's played on a bunch of different records. You've probably heard him on Lana Del Rey's records the most. He's also on the new Weyes Blood record. He's a really quirky guy, and he's really fast and smart when it comes to string arrangements. He would just be in the room with me writing them and we would like do like MIDI string arrangements and he’d show me what they would sound like. The way that you add reverb or space to strings can really change the way that they come across. It wasn’t my first time working with strings so I knew what I wanted, and knew how to talk about the treatment of them. I knew how loud I wanted them to get, and how close I wanted them to seem. A lot of people add strings they just put them on in the background, and they just reverberate in the background, but I like it when they're sometimes dry and poke out a little bit. I think it was just kind of like knowing what it sounded good and what wasn't necessary was pretty apparent for me. And he was so fast at coming up with mock strings that I could talk through with him while we were in the moment.

If you want to hear inspiring strings while you're in Melbourne you need to listen to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

Oh I will, I will. We were going to ask Warren to play on ‘All Mirrors’ I think at some point. Before 2020 hit we were supposed to open, or we were thinking about opening one of their shows. Maybe I can get back on that, see if Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds will still have us.

Oh my god, I might die after that. Just know you'll be responsible for my death of happiness.

It would be really fun, I feel like we’d get along.

So with ‘Nothing’s Free’ the pace and the phrasing of the songs are quite vocally different from your previous work. It’s now like you're free of restraints, you’re at the end of the world and what matters is here and in this song. Is it because as you grow you’re more confident in your work? Or are you just really feeling this sort of sexy ease in what you're performing?

With ‘Nothing's Free’ it was an after thought to do it in a low voice instead of a high voice, and the original recording was high. After doing ‘Chasing The Sun’ I was kind of like, okay it might be fun to do a whole record like this, but I only have this song for now. I think it's sort of like, maybe where I'm heading? I don't know.

I found a very lounge bar chanteuse, like the after, after party, you know. Sitting on a piano on a red curtained stage somewhere just singing.

I really enjoy listening to like, Nina Simone and Alice Coltrane. I just love that kind of music and I've never really tried to play it.

It's always a very confident woman thing as well. Like, there's sexiness in the confidence. Do you feel like that?

I think there's a kind of sexiness to just being completely exhausted. For me, when I hear it, I'm like, oh, it's this is a song where it's just like, there's no bullshit anymore.

It's a good stage, though. It's oddly beautiful.

It's like, when you're kind of like, you can't tell if you’re confident or completely just like, “I'm so fucking tired”.

So now someone’s going to have to exhaust you more to get more of that?

Someone always does so I wouldn't worry about that.

Words by Alex Officer / Photo Luke Rogers / EP Art by Silken Weinberg