Sounds Like: Country in all the right ways. 

I never know what to expect from an Angel Olsen record, other than one of the most dynamic voices in music. Angel Olsen follows her muse, and her albums all have a distinct vibe, but still can zig when you expect a zag. So when I started to read the articles how her latest release, “Big Time,” was a country album, I was intrigued but also keeping my guard up for what an Angel Olsen country album might actually be.  What I knew for sure was it would be an absolute delight, and boy howdy was I right! ( see what I did there? that’s country music talk!)

“Big Time” is a country album in that it has laments and twang, and glimmers with pedal steel, but it is so much more.  To start, it’s some of her best songwriting to date, digging deep into her own past and heartache. “All The Good Times” kicks the album off in fine fashion, as it takes it time building to a crescendo, peaking with the song splitting open halfway through with horns and background voices. It’s the type of number you can see being preformed on a seventies variety show, big hair and all, and absolutely bringing the house down. It’s such a strong opener, on first listen, I had genuine fear that the rest of the album wouldn’t reach those heights again.  Never doubt Ms. Olsen.

The title track comes in at the number two spot, and it’s straight country up and down, with it’s steel and bar room piano, and a catchy living-loving refrain. From there the album goes in to a series of quieter, confessional songs. “Dream Thing” is a captivating number, referencing her past and Will Oldham. You can’t help but wonder who she is singing to. Like many, I first came to know Angel’s music through her partnership with Oldham, so that reference captures the imagination. “All The Flowers” is the type of song that puts her voice up front, like much of her work from a decade ago. The difference this time is the Nashville glow offered by an accompanying string section, creating a delicate number that starts quiet and gets quieter, in all the right ways.

Which brings us to “Right Now,”  the strong center of the album, and that builds in classic Angel Olsen fashion. She really knows how to write an ANTHEM, and “Right Now,” is one of her best.  You can almost see how she could close a show with this to great effect . The back half of the album still has some tricks up its sleeve.  “Go Home” is the closest she comes to “All Mirrors” territory, with its reverb and echoing of horns, but it still fits the golden tones of “Big Time.”

With “Big Time,” Angel Olsen has chased her muse to a new form of country music, one that retains the shimmer of Nashville, but is still so uniquely and wholly Angel Olsen. To paraphrase Johnny Cash: It covers a lot territory, Angel Olsen’s music does.

Favorite Tack: So many good songs here, but that opener, “All The Good Times,” will land on almost every mixtape I make from now until the end of time.