All Mirrors

When Angel Olsen first emerged as a solo artist in the early 2010s, it was with a spare, haunting acoustic lo-fi that put all focus on her vulnerable, idiosyncratic vocal delivery. As she shifted from country-inflected indie folk to a brooding, more volatile garage-rock blend over the course of her next couple albums, even adding synths to the mix on 2017s My Woman, she managed to keep her tormented songs distinctly intimate. She does it again on All Mirrors, even when lavish arrangements and sometimes seismic production make full use of a 14-piece orchestra alongside guitars, synths, and a thundering low end. All Mirrors was co-produced by Olsen and Burn Your Fire for No Witness John Congleton, who also mixed it, and features string arrangements by Jherek Bischoff and Ben Babbitt. Babbitt also co-wrote some of the music with Olsen. (The lyrics are all Olsen.) Opening track Lark sets the stage, developing from a reticent mumble over distant-sounding strings to a yelping, echoing symphonic pop and back again. Echoing may be understating it; the song and much of the studio-made album sound like they were recorded in a cathedral, with instruments simmering at a distance before closing in on the singer at opportune moments. Meanwhile, she fills the reverberating expanses with pleas, frustrations, and sad epiphanies on a set of songs concerned with deciding to walk away from toxic relationships, as the track list guides listeners through Spring, Summer, and Endgame. Amid more theatrical entries, Too Easy takes on a dreamy, synth-heavy semi-disco (Any way you want to, honey/Take me, show me how you want me). Elsewhere, the devastating Tonight sounds as if delivered through tears, combining half-exhaled vocals with the elegant Romanticism of its orchestra accompaniment. The album closes on Chance, a dramatic, cabaret-style offering that executes the lyrics Its hard to say forever love/Forever is just so far with a confident if quivering lilt. All Mirrors was originally conceived as a double album with solo renditions of the same songs, but as the fully realized tracks took shape, Olsen committed to a definitive version. Though she may have initially built her reputation on stark and brittle atmospheres, it turns out that her trademark vulnerability is only elevated by these stirring, highly stylized interpretations, making it a risk that pays off in spades. ~ Marcy Donelson

シカゴを拠点とするシンガー・ソングライターの通算4作目。高い評価を獲得した前作『My Woman』(2016年)でもシンセ・ポップやささくれ立ったオルタナ～グランジ色強めのサウンドの導入で話題を集めたが、今作では12名のオーケストラも迎え、よりいっそうドラスティックな変化を遂げている。プロデュースはセイント・ヴィンセントやスワンズなどを手がける名匠、ジョン・コングルトンが担当。エレクトロニクスも前作以上に採り入れて広大なサウンドスケープを描き出し、いわゆるチェンバー・ポップとは大きく趣を異にする歪さを湛えた怪作に。時に柔和に、時には情感たっぷりの歌い回しを披露する、その豊かな情感に裏打ちされた表現力は、どこかケイト・ブッシュとリンクするような気も。
bounce (C)保坂隆純