Album Review Phases, Angel Olsen

Indie darling Angel Olsen is back with a collection of B-sides, rarities and demos, some previously unreleased from her time recording 2016’s My Woman and 2010’s Strange Cacti.

Cynics among us could be forgiven for being skeptical of a compilation album offering this side of Christmas, but Phases serves as a potent reminder to new and old fans alike of Olsen's genre defying songwriting prowess.

The beauty of Phases is in its revelationary nature. Ambling tales of love lost, longing and obsession that make the listener feel like they are privy to some of Olsen's deepest darkest secrets. On ‘Special’ lo-fi electric guitar pulsates as she tenderly pleads ‘want to be special, something like your mother’ and climaxes with a Loveless era shoegazey wall of sound.
‘Only with you’ is melancholic and raw; listen in your bedroom alone at three in the morning and cry music, whereas ‘Sans’ is a brand new listen and sees Olsen back in warbling country folk mode.

On the second half of Phases it’s as if Olsen flicks a switch from forlorn to defiant. The tempo of ‘Sweet Dreams’ and ‘California’ are noticeably faster and the message cheerful. A particular highlight is her pared back take on the Bruce Springsteen classic ‘Tougher Than the Rest’ about a loner who is ready to commit to a relationship, no matter how tough or messy it can be.

Phases is a fantastic study in the metamorphosis of a dynamic and charismatic artist who is certainly in it for the long haul.