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Angel Olsen's Dramatic Reflections

facebook.com/angelolsenmusic

Orchestras are a bit of a trend this fall on Studio One, popping up on new releases from The Flaming Lips and Jim James, and most dramatically on the new Angel Olsen record.  Olsen possesses a powerful voice that's just right for this kind of backing, harkening back to a time when singers and their orchestras were recorded in big cavernous studios.

The new album is "All Mirrors," and Olsen began the project by recording these songs of self-reflection and discovery simply and with minimum instrumentation.  "I wanted to have versions of these songs that are completely raw and real in the way some of my earlier recordings are," Olsen said.  She then went on to record the same songs with a different co-producer, arranger Jherek Bischoff and multi-instrumentalist Ben Babbitt.  Plus the 14-piece orchestra.

The bare bones version of "All Mirrors" remains unreleased- so far.  Clearly, these songs have a deep personal meaning for Angel Olsen.  A meaning that is amplified and made more cathartic by the orchestral arrangements.  "This record is about owning up to your darkest side," she says.  "This is a record about facing yourself and learning to forgive what you see."     

-zY

Mark Simmet is a Senior Producer and Studio One Host