Angel Olsen released her album All Mirrors last year and the shimmering effort saw some of her most grand production yet. Following the success of the album, Olsen is making a return to her earlier catalog with the acoustic song “Whole New Mess,” which announces an eponymous record due later this summer.
Olsen announced her upcoming album Whole New Mess with a video alongside the poignant title track directed by Ashley Connor, who has been filming her recent Cosmic Streams livestream events. In a statement, Olsen described the events which inspired the new release: “I had gone through this breakup, but it was so much bigger than that — I’d lost friendships, too. When you get out of a relationship, you have to examine who you are or were in all the relationships. I wanted to record when I was still processing these feelings. These are the personal takes, encapsulated in a moment.”
Olsen ventured to Anacortes, Washington to record the album at The Unknown, a studio that Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum converted from an old Catholic church. “I hadn’t been to The Unknown, but I knew about its energy. I wanted to go sit with the material and be with it in a way that felt like a residency,” Olsen said. “I didn’t need a lot, since it was just me and a guitar. But I wanted someone else there to hold me accountable for trying different things.”
Watch the “Whole New Mess” video above and find Olsen’s Whole New Mess album artwork and tracklist below.
1. “Whole New Mess”
2. “Too Easy (Bigger Than Us)”
3. “(New Love) Cassette”
4. “(We Are All Mirrors)”
5. “(Summer Song)”
6. “Waving, Smiling”
7. “Tonight (Without You)”
8. “Lark Song”
9. “Impasse (Workin’ For The Name)”
10. “Chance (Forever Love)”
11. “What It Is (What It Is)”
Whole New Mess is out 8/28 via Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.