Angel Olsen is taking a decidedly different approach in following her 2020 album Whole New Mess: Her next release, Aisles, is a EP featuring covers of ’80s songs. She announced the project (which is set for release on August 20) today and previewed it with her synthy cover of Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” (which was originally composed in Italian by Umberto Tozzi).
Olsen notes of the release, “I know it’s not really in my history to do something unintentional or just for the hell of it, but my connection to these songs is pretty straightforward, I just wanted to have a little fun and be a little more spontaneous, and I think I needed to remember that I could!”
Olsen also said of making the project:
“I told [co-producer and engineer Adam McDaniel] I had an idea to record some covers and bring some of the band into the mix, or add other players. I needed to laugh and have fun and be a little less serious about the recording process in general. I thought about completely changing some of the songs and turning them inside out. I’d come over to find Adam had set up five or so synthesizers, and we’d get lost on a part for a while messing with some obscure pedal I knew nothing about. We’d spend a good amount of time going through sounds before finding one or two, sometimes we’d get real weird and decide to just go with it.”
Aisles is also the first release on somethingscosmic, Olsen’s new Jagjaguwar imprint.
Listen to “Gloria” above and find the Aisles EP art and tracklist below.
1. “Gloria” (Laura Branigan cover)
2. “Eyes Without A Face” (Billy Idol cover)
3. “Safety Dance” (Men Without Hats cover)
4. “If You Leave” (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark cover)
5. “Forever Young” (Alphaville cover)
Aisles is out 8/20 via somethingscosmic. Pre-order it here.