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She\u2019s the one with the haunting warble, sometimes menacing or self-deprecating, but always a bit fragile and always a bit bold. Angel Olsen<\/b><\/a> is a singer-songwriter with a unique talent for forging emotional connections with her listeners\u2014that is, the ability to make any member of her audience freeze, cry, or reach deep into some hollow part of themselves. For her newest album,\u00a0Burn Your Fire For No Witness,\u00a0<\/i>her\u00a0unwavering self-possession is strong as ever, stretched across more present instrumentation and, of course, her gorgeous crooning.<\/p>\n

The album is sensitive, soft, subtle, occasionally sweet, and all together that complexity makes it very human. Her uncertainty about what it means to be lonely, about what she truly feels, is what makes these songs so engaging. This ambiguity makes it easy for the listener to enter that space and recall their own inexplicable melancholy. Her voice is difficult to describe, a bit like folk singer Karen Dalton or Emmylou Harris; shaky, but clear.<\/p>\n

Burn Your Fire For No Witness<\/i> begins with \u201cUnfuck the World.\u201d For such a powerful title, this song is incredibly soft. There\u2019s an immediate sense of interiority, a passiveness: \u201cHere\u2019s to thinking that this all meant so much more \/ I kept my mouth shut and opened up the door.\u201d But her voice soars in the chorus with a lo-fi melancholy that is just heartbreaking: \u201cI am the only one now \/ You may not be around,\u201d she repeats and repeats like a mantra, a tiny peek into her aloneness. Normally, break-up songs can get a bit irritating, especially when they harp on a lover\u2019s absence. This song is all personal reflection, rather than a reflection on the other person or even the relationship itself.<\/p>\n

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In \u201cWhite Fire,\u201d the track the album is named for, her vocals sound almost dead. The song itself is immediately sad, and there are waves of guitar strumming that paint a dark atmosphere. She tells us herself: \u201cEverything is tragic \/ It all just falls apart.\u201d From here, we move into an uncomfortably empty mind. Even when she’s singing about anger or bitterness, she\u2019s nearly flat, but it conveys as much as if she\u2019d been shaky or close to tears. In fact, it’s more effective than singing with movement, at least for this song, which describes Olsen’s feelings of disillusionment. You\u2019re only \u201cfierce and light and young,\u201d she tells us, \u201cWhen you don\u2019t know that you\u2019re wrong \/ or just how wrong you are.\u201d This may be my favorite track.<\/p>\n

Olsen plays up the guitar and drums in \u201cForgiven\/Forgotten\u201d and \u201cHigh & Wild.\u201d Both songs are forcefully catchy in an unexpected way. \u201cForgiven\/Forgotten\u201d has heavy drums and bass and the words drive you through with repetition. Her voice is bolder and far more scornful in \u201cHigh & Wild\u201d with its grungy riffs. It\u2019s not as sad as most of the other songs, and there\u2019s a powerful melody that recalls ’60s femme rock. It comes close to being somber, but then she sarcastically sings: \u201cWell, this would all be so much easier \/ if I had nothing to say.”<\/p>\n

\u201cHi-five\u201d is another song that positions itself outside of the sorrowful, instead tip-toeing on the edge before diving into bitterness. The simple guitar chords and drums go well with the blues-y, old country lyrics: \u201cI feel so lonesome I could cry.\u201d Olsen\u2019s definitely warbling here, reflecting the movement in the instrumentation. There\u2019s such sudden raw emotion when she shouts \u201csomeone who believes<\/i>\u201d that the entire tone of the song turns around. \u201cAre you lonely, too?\u201d she asks. \u201cSo am I,\u201d she says after calling for a hi-five. But then, in a completely delicious twist at the very end she reveals herself: \u201cI\u2019m stuck too \/ I\u2019m stuck with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The whole album is narrative and extremely emotional, with Olsen occasionally throwing in an endearing word like “darlin.'” There\u2019s also a great deal of experimentation here\u2014songs are different in tone, in rhythm, but they all run smoothly from one to the next. If you\u2019re okay with your own feelings lurching out, and maybe shedding a tear or two that you didn\u2019t know was lurking inside, then give this album a good, long listen.<\/p>\n

Check out “White Fire” from\u00a0Burn Your Fire For No Witness<\/i>:<\/p>\n