When I first heard that Angel Olsen was following up the masterful All Mirrors, raved about by me here, with a solo, largely acoustic record, I feared the worst. That fear was compounded when I read that this would contain solo versions of some of the songs from that superb 2019 album. I needn't have worried. Whole News Mess, out on Friday via Jagjaguwar, stands on its own as a necessary release, and one which performs the odd feat of illustrating the strength of Olsen's compositions in a new way.
The title cut is nearly a madrigal, a mournful, timeless thing, while "Waving, Smiling", another new one, is breathy folk. Angel Olsen again strikes the sort of vulnerable note only she seems to be able to strike as a performer, with this stark material being haunting and affecting. Of course, it goes without saying, this might be more precious in other hands, but Angel Olsen's understanding of how to arrange both a tune and a performance is unparalleled these days. Case in point, the title cut from her last record here dressed up as a subtly churning acoustic-number. "(We Are All Mirrors)", as it's called here, lacks the Sixties pop-shadings we found draped around this one on last year's winning album, but the version here has its own barebones charms.
Elsewhere, "Lark Song" benefits from the approach here on Whole New Mess. Without the symphonic sweep behind it as the album opener to 2019's All Mirrors, it's still somehow just as powerful, if only so much more quiet. That one, and "What It is (What It Is)", seem so much more intimate now, and that's a considerable bit of praise when we're talking about an Angel Olsen record. Whole New Mess does enough with these existing numbers, and the handful of new ones, to surprise. And I think that's more than I expected to write about a release like this. Unlike nearly anyone else active in music today, Angel Olsen accomplished something new with something (slightly) old. That she did it alone on a solo record must make the results sweeter for her, I'm sure.
Whole News Mess is out on Friday via Jagjaguwar.
More details on Angel Olsen here.
[Photo: Kylie Coutts]