One person I've never actually covered here that I probably should have numerous times by now (I have mentioned her in my review of End of the Road) is Angel Olsen.
She has one of my most listened to records of 2013, her 2012 album Half Way Home and the first time I caught her live, at her spellbinding show at the aforementioned EOTR (an acoustic show played in full afternoon sunshine; the perfect setting) I was sufficiently transfixed by her sensual voice and intoxicating, intimate songcraft...
Fast forward to last week and we were treated to the first track from Angel's next LP Burn Your Fire for No Witness (due for release Feb 18th via Jagjaguwar pre-order packages). The track, "Forgiven/Forgotten" takes all that hushed, fractured beauty and turns it completely on its head. I'd definitely forgive you for not recognising it as Angel Olsen at all. It wastes no time getting inside your head with a gruff, explosive melody that is propelled by fuzzed-up guitar and a forceful kick drum beat. It will no doubt prove divisive for fans of her earlier material but is bound to open Angel up to a whole new audience and there's plenty of time in the song for her unique voice to shine too. Basically "Forgiven/Forgotten" makes the hairs on your neck stand on end with a rollicking, raw blast of intensely perfect punk-pop.
I'm also posting about Angel's last release because I'd totally missed it until I took a visit to her website and noticed a track I'd not heard of... "Sweet Dreams" was released as a stand-alone 7" in February 2013 with another track "California" (you can order the 7" via Sixteen Tambourines now), it gave an earlier indication of the progression in her sound, saturated in a swampy glue of reverb and a voice I best read described as 'liquid gold', full of emotion and power, it's a talent that should see Angel Olsen follow in the footsteps of Sharon Van Etten on the like and move from blogger favourite to becoming a genuine indie star.
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