Alternative fans don’t need to wait much longer, Angel Olsen just announced the upcoming release of her fourth studio album titled All Mirrors. In addition to this announcement, Olsen also dropped a dreamy yet ominous video for the title track of the album. The “All Mirrors” music video is directed by the cinematographer Ashley Conner who has worked on a number of Olsen music videos in the past including “Shut Up,” “Intern,” “Hi Five,” and “Tiniest Seed.” The album will be released on October 4th 2019 through Jagjaguwar and Olsen will be going on tour this fall after the release of All Mirrors.
The song itself deviates from Olsen’s past music and indie folk and rock creations, though “All Mirrors” still maintains Olsen’s laid back sound. The track begins with sustained synthesizer chords and Olsen sings over with her clear and unique voice. Soon after the bass player layers his sound over the track with short lines spaced out. The drummer’s entry coincides with the bass player and they cleverly play with the bass line, similarly playing in a seemingly sporadic manner and tinkering with the space that the two create. The synthesizer is reminiscent of an 80s anthem but the lack of a continuous drum beat makes the track sound much more futuristic. Halfway through, the synthesizer goes from its original grandiose sound to a more minor sound with arpeggios rather than sustained chords. String instruments enter creating a more melancholy and dramatic sound. The song ends dramatically as it picks up speed with a steady drum beat that drives the rest of the song.
The lo-fi video for “All Mirrors” creates a dreamy and hazy atmosphere and is filmed in black and white. Olsen is depicted throughout and literally glows as she slowly moves in a white flowy dress in a black room. Eventually, Olsen enters a room with multiple mirrors and we see her reflection in each one. Once the song takes a more minor turn the video becomes visually uneasy. Through the smoke and mirrors Olsen sees long black fingers that envelop her and her singing momentarily ends as she is consumed. She then breaks free now in a black dress meets her doppelganger who wears a crown and the video ends with Olsen descending a staircase in a stringy and shiny new dress. Check out the video below:
When explaining this record herself Olsen stated. “In every way — from the making of it, to the words, to how I feel moving forward, this record is about owning up to your darkest side, finding the capacity for new love and trusting change even when you feel like a stranger.”
During the initial planning and creation of “All Mirrors” Olsen originally intended to have a dual record release, one with heavy instrumentals and a more full sound, and the other with less instrumentation creating a more raw and simplistic sound. However, Olsen decided that she, “… needed to separate these two records and release All Mirrors in its heaviest form. . . It was impossible for me to deny how powerful and surprising the songs had become. The truth is that I may have never allowed this much sonic change in the first place had I not already made an account of the same songs in their purest form.”
See the track list for All Mirrors below:
1. Lark
2. All Mirrors
3. Too Easy
4. New Love Cassette
5. Spring
6. What It Is
7. Impasse
8. Tonight
9. Summer
10. Endgame
11. Chance
Photo Credit: Owen Ela
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