Angel Olsen’s Mixtape Memoir:
Nostalgia & Cinema
The term “old soul'' gets used a lot to describe people wise beyond their years, and while this definition certainly applies to our guest, from a young age she also felt nostalgic and drawn to music and film of eras she did not live through. To hear Angel Olsen tell it, her passion for the music her parents grew up with was also a way to find common ground, and bridging a significant generational gap between them. Early on, Angel was aware that music was a powerful connector, as well as a way to time travel a bit, and it wasn’t long before she also discovered her own voice and the ability to create songs that are at once influenced by the sounds of the past, and completely modern. Born in 1987 and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Angel's musical development began with playing the saxophone, before she took up piano, and guitar, and her parents would take her to the symphony. In her teens she began soaking up more contemporary music and by 16 had started a band. After high school Angel moved to Chicago, connecting and collaborating with other musicians, including Bonnie “Prince” Billy, eventually becoming part of his touring band before putting out a cassette of her own in 2010 called Strange Cacti. Her full length debut Half Way Home followed in 2012, and then her breakthrough third album Burn Your Fire For No Witness in 2014 for her new label home, Jagjaguwar Records. Since then, Angel Olsen has continually expanded her sound, with 2016’s My Woman, the compilation Phases in 2017, and All Mirrors in 2019, followed by the stripped down collection Whole New Mess in 2020. Now as we celebrate the release of her sixth studio album Big Time, listen in as we create Angel Olsen's Mixtape Memoir.
LISTEN HERE:
Episode Credits:
Host/creator/creative director - Carmel Holt @carmelholt
Editor/Mixing/Mastering - Phoebe Wang @feebswang
Theme music - Lucius @ilovelucius
Cover art - Merle Cooper @m.c.cooper
Art direction - @carmelholt
Guest: Angel Olsen / @angelolsenmusic
Label: Jagjaguwar / @jagjaguwar
