Phases
Angel Olsen has made great strides between the homespun folk of 2012’s *Half Way Home* and the bold, noir-ish indie rock of 2016’s *MY WOMAN*, a journey documented on the rarities collection *Phases*. Ranging from compilation tracks (the moody “Fly on Your Wall”) to studio outtakes (the *MY WOMAN*–era “Special”), hushed (“May as Well”) to howling (the Roy Orbison garage rock of “Sweet Dreams”), the music here is a testament not just to Olsen’s range but her evolution as a songwriter, all anchored by her fluttering—but powerful—voice.
How do you best describe Angel Olsen? From the lo-fi, sparse folk-melancholy of her 2010 EP, Strange Cacti, to the electrified, polished rock ‘n’ roll bursting from 2016’s beloved and acclaimed MY WOMAN, Olsen has refused to succumb to a single genre, expectation, or vision. Impossible to pin down, Olsen navigates the world with her remarkable, symphonic voice and a propensity for narrative, her music growing into whatever shape best fits to tell the story. Phases is a collection of Olsen’s work culled from the past several years, including a number of never-before-released tracks. “Fly On Your Wall,” previously contributed to the Bandcamp-only, anti-Trump fundraiser Our First 100 Days, opens Phases, before seamlessly slipping into “Special,” a brand new song from the MY WOMAN recording sessions. Both “How Many Disasters” and “Sans” are first-time listens: home-recorded demos that have never been released, leaning heavily on Olsen’s arresting croon and lonesome guitar. The b-sides compilation is both a testament to Olsen’s enormous musical range and a tidy compilation of tracks that have previously been elusive in one way or another. Balancing tenacity and tenderness, Phases acts as a deep-dive for longtime fans, as well as a fitting introduction to Olsen’s sprawling sonics for the uninitiated.
This collection of B-sides, demos, and covers is terrific and revelatory in its own right. It's a trail of dropped clues to the creative process of the defiantly mercurial Olsen.
Legendary post-hardcore outfit Quicksand goes contemplative on its first album in 22 years, while the rarities collection Phases captures Angel Olsen’s lovelorn evolution. These, plus Yung Lean in the week’s notable releases.
America's finest young songwriter unlocks her back catalogue with a carefully-curated selection of obscurities.
US folk singer-songwriter Angel Olsen’s collection of unreleased material, B-sides and rarities 'Phases' is a gorgeous thing indeed.
As wide-ranging in feeling as it is in recording style, Phases serves as more material for rabid fans, but also a…
Arriving a year after her Top 50 album My Woman, 2017's Phases compiles rarities spanning Angel Olsen's prior output, including early demos, stand-alone singles, and unreleased material from the My Woman recording sessions.
When you have a voice like Angel Olsen's, you can afford to strip away almost all of the instruments, and most of the production value, and...
There is something about the way Angel Olsen's voice crackles, howls, and pulsates that gets right into your bones.
Over a year after the runaway, breakthrough success of ‘My Woman’ established Angel Olsen as one of music’s brightest young storytellers
The balance is a touch out on Angel Olsen's 'Phases', an album that collects together her career b-sides, rarities and off-cuts.
Review of Angel Olsen's new full-length 'Phases', the album will be available on November 10th via Jagjaguwar
Singer-songwriter at her most open in this career-spanning retrospective. Album review by Javi Fedrick