Angel Olsen’s new album, Big Time, feels like a step into another dimension. It’s not just the rich Americana vibes—drenched in the spirits of Lucinda Williams, George Harrison, and Big Star—or the cinematic companion film that veers between Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone. It’s the whole package: Olsen has gone deep and come out with something beautifully raw, achingly personal, and refreshingly untethered to the rules of the past.
Talking to Angel is like sifting through layers of a dream—you don’t always know where she’s going, but you know it’s worth following. “I’ve always loved how country music says so much with so little,” she says, referencing the 70s country and Americana legends that influenced Big Time. “I wanted to try my version of that—to keep it simple but profound.”
The simplicity hits like a gut punch on tracks like “All the Flowers,” which could double as a baroque fever dream. “I wrote it on a summer day, just thinking about how hard it is to truly connect with one person,” Angel says. “Then we threw in a harpsichord, and it felt like, ‘Okay, now we’re at the Ren Faire.’” It’s Olsen in a nutshell: poignant one moment, self-aware and hilarious the next.
Of course, Olsen’s penchant for reinvention isn’t new. Before this, she dropped an 80s Covers EP that reimagined hits like “The Safety Dance” as atmospheric, synth-laden curiosities. “My producer hated that song,” she laughs. “I had to beg him to do it, and his condition was that we’d make it super weird. I was like, ‘Done.’”
But the emotional backbone of Big Time lies in Olsen’s own story—her parents’ passing and her own journey of coming out. “I wrote a lot of these songs before any of that happened,” she says, “but after everything, they started to take on a new meaning.” This evolution culminates in the film that accompanies the album, a surreal blend of her vivid dreams and director Kimberly Stuckwisch’s visual artistry. “It’s like we threw all our experiences into a blender and hit ‘go.’”
Still, don’t expect Olsen to hang around the same stylistic space for long. “I’ve never wanted to feel trapped in one sound or one genre,” she says. “It’s easy to get boxed in when people know you for a specific vibe. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to sidestep that. If I’m going to make art, I need to feel like I can evolve.”
That constant evolution has become a hallmark of Olsen’s career, even if it means taking risks that might lose a few fans along the way. “It’s not about trying to make everyone happy,” she explains. “It’s about creating something I can stand behind, something I believe in. If people come along for the ride, that’s amazing, but if they don’t? At least I know I stayed true to myself.”
And yet, Big Time feels like the kind of record that demands your attention, whether or not Americana is your thing. Tracks like “Dream Thing” and “Through the Fires” weave ghostly melodies with lyrics that linger long after the song ends. Olsen’s songwriting is vivid, almost cinematic, which makes sense considering her obsession with dreams. “I’ve been dreaming like crazy lately,” she says. “Time travel, moss gardens, places where people aren’t alive or dead. It’s weird, but it’s where my head’s at.”
That dreamlike quality extends to the Big Time film, which melds Olsen’s personal experiences with an otherworldly, almost haunting aesthetic. “I’d been watching a lot of Twin Peaks and Twilight Zone,” she says, “and I wanted to create something that felt like those shows—disjointed but beautiful, surreal but grounded in emotion.”
Even with all this creative exploration, Olsen doesn’t shy away from humor and self-awareness. “When I wrote All the Flowers, I didn’t think people would latch onto it so much,” she admits. “Friends keep telling me it’s their favorite track, and I’m like, ‘Seriously? All I did was sing about being alive.’ But hey, I’ll take it.”
So what’s next for Angel Olsen? After a tour with Sharon Van Etten and Julien Baker—“I can’t wait for that,” she gushes—she’s keeping her options open. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m excited to keep exploring. Whether it’s music, films, or something else entirely, I just want to keep creating.”
With Big Time, Olsen has once again proven that she’s not just playing the game—she’s rewriting the rules. And if this is where her dreams are taking her, we’re all lucky to be along for the ride.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below.
