Angel Olsen, 'Burn Your Fire For No Witness'

By: David Savage

                One of the many things I love about music is seeing the evolution of an artist. I often notice that the ones in the singer-songwriter genre, with nothing more than an acoustic guitar and their voice, are the ones with such strong prominent evolutions. They start their musical career with minimal instrumentation and then become inspired to expand into something bigger and bolder. Angel Olsen is prime example of this evolution.

                Angel Olsen has severed the acoustic shell that she was encased in on her first record, Half Way Home. Combining the casual acoustic singer-songwriter style with the thick reverb of her EP Strange Cacti, Burn Your Fire For No Witness is born. The opening track, “Unfucktheworld”, has vintage vibes to it, with Angel Olsen’s voice sounding like it’s escaping from a dusty phonograph. “Unfucktheworld” is a smooth way to start the record with the powerful, yet simple, strums of the guitar with her voice crooning through the air with trembling vibrato singing “I wanted nothing but for this to be the end”. The record then jumps into the distorted rock track, “Forgiven/Forgotten”.

                The thing that differs from Angel Olsen’s previous work is the heaviness of the guitar and having a band to back her up, consisting of Josh Jaeger(drums) and Stewart Bronaugh(bass). The heavy guitar weighs in and contributes to the dark and melancholy tone of the record. One song that sticks out to me is the track “White Fire”. The song has the guitar in the background, distorted and smothered in reverb, allowing Olsen’s voice to be the main focus. Her voice, especially on this song, is haunting in a way that gives me the chills. Lyrically this song (as well as the whole album) is spectacular with somber lines like “Everything is tragic/ it all just falls apart/ But when I look into your eyes/ it pieces up my heart”, from “White Fire”.

                Loss and heartache hold close to the heart of Burn Your Fire For No Witness, both lyrically and instrumentally. This record is powerful. Angel Olsen is evolving as an artist and it is fascinating to watch and listen to such an expansive record from someone whose debut was simply a girl and her acoustic guitar. Burn Your Fire For No Witness is an exceptional album by Angel Olsen.

Favorite Tracks: “White Fire”, “Unfucktheworld”, “Iota”