Angel Olsen’s Burn Your Fire For No Witness made a bit of a stir when it came out back in 2014, but for whatever reason it never really clicked with me. Which is a bit surprising, since I tend to gravitate towards female singer-songwriters that are able to splatter all their messy emotions all over their songs in a raw and honest way, which Olsen certainly has a knack for doing. Or maybe it just took Olsen making a more “rock” record like My Woman to lure me in, though I’d say the more appealing, poppier songs are just one piece of the puzzle that makes this such an eclectically awesome record with a clearly strong voice at the heart of it.
Though listening back to Burn Your Fire For No Witness, this newest release isn’t really that much different in terms of accessibility. Though I suppose My Woman does have the song “Shut Up Kiss Me”, which is both very catchy, but also captures the kind of messy intensity that most catchy love songs usually fail to capture. This song then leads in to “Give It Up”, another very catchy, pretty rockin’ song that makes you start to think that Angel Olsen might be positioning herself as the next coming of Chrissy Hynde or something.
And then you get into the second half of My Woman, and that’s not quite the case. I’m glad I ended up buying this album on vinyl (purple vinyl no less), since in an interview Olsen said that she intentionally made side A more upbeat, while side B is a little more introverted and reflective. Which may have made me a little hesitant to completely embrace this record at first, but now I find this to be an absolute asset. Because now that the first half of My Woman has lured me in with its summery fervor, it’s getting to be just about time for some wistful reflection as we move deeper into the Fall and Winter months.
Favorite Tracks: “Shut Up Kiss Me”, “Give It Up”, “Sister”