“Olsen certainly knows how to capture and exercise melodramatic feelings in her music.” – The New York Times
“What’s remained central to Olsen’s work as a songwriter is her chillingly stoic sense of self-conviction, her songs’ declarations of romantic and artistic independence.” – NPR Music
Angel Olsen unveils the title track and its gorgeous video from her new album, Big Time, out June 3rd on Jagjaguwar. ‘Big Time” is a country song where Olsen fully embraces a sound she’s been flirting with throughout her career. A fearless love song, it follows and continues the optimism heard in lead single ‘All The Good Times.’ “Guess I had to be losin’ to get here on time // And I’m living I’m loving I’ve loved long before // I’m loving you big time I’m loving you more,” Olsen sings, the warmth of her lyrics bolstered by winding pedal steel and her magnetic voice. The song’s cinematic video was directed once again by Kimberly Stuckwisch with choreography by Monika Felice Smith. Watch the video and read below for the director’s statement.
“For ‘Big Time,’ we set out to celebrate how humans identify and to subvert the old-fashioned gender binary and societal/internalized gender roles of the past through choreography, color, and wardrobe. To exist outside strict definitions is powerful and often not given a place in cinema. This was our chance to hold a positive reflection in the space and to shout to the world that you are more than who you are told to be.
“‘Big Time’ is what happens when we do not express our true identity but find freedom when we step out of the shadows into our most authentic selves. In the first rotation, the lighting is drab, the clothes are monochromatic, the dance is monotonous . . . gender-conforming roles present. However, with each rotation, something magical happens, both our cast and Angel begin to come alive, to feel free. We see the clothes brighten, the dance heightens, and the bar that was once devoid of emotion can barely contain the joy bursting out of each individual.
“I am proud to say that over 80% of our cast and 50% of our crew identified as nonbinary and non-gender conforming.” – Kimberly Stuckwisch
Big Time was forged in a whiplash; the rare, fertile moments when both fresh grief and fresh love occur, when mourning and limerence heighten, complicate and explain each other. It’s an album about the expansive power of new love, written during the time Olsen was coming out as queer, and having her first experience of queer love and heartbreak. But this brightness and optimism is tempered by a profound and layered sense of loss; both of Olsen’s parents passed within weeks of each other, just after Olsen came out to them. Three weeks after her mother’s funeral she was in the studio, recording this incredibly wise and tender new album, Big Time.
While her previous record, All Mirrors, was full of dramatic shifts and twists, here the surprises come in their simplicity—a slow swell of strings, instrumentation that cycles like a storm, or sparkling horns in a light-flooded break-up ballad. Big Time was recorded and mixed with co-producer Jonathan Wilson at his Fivestar Studios in Topanga, California. Drew Erickson played piano, organ, and handled string arrangements, and Olsen’s longtime bandmate, Emily Elhaj, played bass throughout. Big Time proves Olsen is now writing from a more rooted place of clarity. She’s working with an elastic mastery of her voice—both sonically and artistically. These are songs not just about transformational mourning, but of finding freedom and joy in the privations as they come.
As previously announced, every CD and LP copy of Big Time ordered directly from the label store will include an additional charge to offset the carbon emissions of each piece. Jagjaguwar, in partnership with Terra Lumina Consulting, calculated emissions and costs to achieve a carbon negative product for “cradle-to-grave” use of each physical piece: from the mining of materials, to pressing and shipping, to the electricity consumed by your stereo at home, to end of life disposal. Carbon offsets will be purchased through Native, supporting the Medford Spring Grassland project.
Angel kicks off The Wild Hearts Tour with Sharon Van Etten, Julien Baker and Spencer. this July, and will tour Europe this fall.
Big Time is out June 3rd on Jagjaguwar.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Bandcamp
