Week 1: Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (1,158 views)

[IhateMana]

With a staggering 3 votes moving it a decisive 1 vote ahead of the two other albums which had 2 votes, this week's album is Angel Olsen - All Mirrors.

I actually heard her last album when it came out the other year. Got a pretty passive response out of me so let's see if this slaps harder.

[Baronessa]

THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN WE ARE GOING IN!!!

None of the melodies caught on at first listen. All of the songs were fine nominally, though. I got some budget Lana Del Rey vibes mixed with 2000s Radiohead.

I find that even with these ostensibly sprawling chamber pop albums, they lack a 'grandness' to them that they're simultaneously trying to portray -- I suppose you could call it biting off more than you can chew. This one doesn't seem like an exception.

"Summer" is my favourite so far. That song seems like it's more in a sophisti-pop vein than an art pop one, actually.

[IhateMana]

yeah i pretty much feel exactly the same on first listen, in that I've heard this kind of thing done to death at this point that the hype is completely lost on me

[Holsety]

I recall trying to give this album a listen some time ago, but I turned it off early on because I wasn't interested enough. However, giving it a second chance, I suppose I got something out of it. The instrumentals reminded me of Tears For Fears in parts, but perhaps a bit foggier. My highlight was "What It Is" because it reminds me a little bit of this song.

[Tara]

The ambient sound going into the intense octave-up parts was quite cool, probably best suited for lying in your bed and blocking out everything except the sound. If you aren't fully immersed in it, I think the songs feel too long. I would not listen to it again but I am glad that I gave it a go as I would never have picked it up otherwise. I liked the strings in "Tonight"; they reminded me of the night I went to see an orchestra with my music class, which is a fond memory.

[Zedd Squared]

I found the album to be pretty effective and cool, but it did feel a bit overly one note at times. The main thing hampering the quality for me is that Lark as an opener majorly dragged, and occasionally I found her lower range to be a bit too "typical" sounding for the genre. On the plus side, her high range sounds really cool and the production approach was quite immersive. The title track is my main highlight (great haunting vocal hook on it) but I also enjoyed New Love Cassette and What It Is among others. Incidentally, I listened to this album while quite sick in bed and it very much fits that atmosphere lol, so I appreciated it on that level as well. Probably a 3/5 with room to grow to 3.5 or so over time.

[DaydreamingBaritone]

6 months late to the party but I'll share my two cents anyway (:))

I discovered Angel through this album and frankly I consider this project to be one of the best pop albums of 2019. The production of this album is quite grandiose and immersive overall but what really sells the album is her straightforward yet heartfelt songwriting. Angel's vulnerable vocal delivery on the opener, closer, and the title track (along with "Impasse" and "Spring") effectively enhances their emotional appeal. On a side note, I think that making this album was kinda risky for Angel because her previous style has been largely rooted in folk rock, so I gotta give her credit for taking this moodier direction and succeeding at it mostly. That said, I do agree that some of the songs are rather anticlimactic in terms of melody and arrangement. I listened to My Woman after this album and if I have to recommend Angel to a first time listener I'd definitely go with that album, it's more varied and palatable with catchy tunes such as "Shut Up, Kiss Me" and "Not Gonna Kill You" while also having beautifully written songs like "Woman" and "Pops".