Angel Olsen Drops ‘Lark,’ Intense Second Video From Forthcoming Album

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Singer-songwriter Angel Olsen, recently featured on Mark Ronson’s “Late Night Feelings” album, has dropped a video for “Lark,” the second song to be released from her powerful fourth full-length album “All Mirrors,” which arrives on Oct. 4. The first song and video from the album, its title track , was released in July.

The song, the first track on the album, begins quietly and builds into a towering string arrangement, with Olsen singing at the top of her powerful voice. The video, filmed in her home state of North Carolina, following the song’s progression as she leaves her house after an argument.

“‘Lark’ is a song that took many years to finish,” she says in the video’s announcement. “The disjointed feelings and verses of this song began to make sense as a way for me to exercise a kind of journey through grieving, a kind of personal struggle. The message of the song developed at first from an argument I once had with someone about trust and support. Later, I pulled from recurring themes in my life as a musician and as a human that dreams for a living. It’s easy to promise the world to those we love, but what about when our dreams change and values split?”

“All Mirrors,” represents a directional change from her previous work. Olsen initially planned to work on a dual record release — “a set of raw and real solo songs and a full-band version of the same songs” — to be released at the same time. After she completed the solo version with producer Michael Harris, Olsen began work on the fleshed out version with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Erykah Badu), with whom she collaborated on 2014’s “Burn Your Fire for No Witness” and a 14-piece orchestra.

Ultimately, she decided that she “needed to separate these two records and release ‘All Mirrors’ in its heaviest form.”

Both musically and emotionally, the album is beautiful and intense: Nearly every song begins quietly and builds to a powerful crescendo powered by the string arrangements and her soaring voice. It seems likely to land at the top of many critics’ polls at the end of the year.

Tour Dates appear below the video:

Mon. Oct. 28 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom &

Wed. Oct. 30 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes *

Thu. Oct. 31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall *

Fri. Nov. 1 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre *

Mon. Nov. 4 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *

Tue. Nov. 5 – New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre *

Thu. Nov. 7 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s (Levitation) *

Fri. Nov. 8 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater *

Sat. Nov. 9 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion *

Sun. Nov. 10 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada *

Tue. Nov. 12 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *

Wed. Nov. 13 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee *

Thu. Nov. 14 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre *

Fri. Nov. 15 – Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre *

Sat. Nov. 16 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre *

Mon. Nov. 18 – Montreal, QC @ mTelus *

Tue. Nov. 19 – Boston, MA @ Royale *

Fri. Nov. 22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *

Sat. Nov. 23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel ^

Mon. Dec. 2 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren *

Tue. Dec. 3 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park *

Thu. Dec. 5 – Los Angeles, CA @ Palace Theater *

Fri. Dec. 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Palace Theater #

Sat. Dec. 7 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *

Mon. Dec. 9 – Portland, OR @ Roseland *

Tue. Dec. 10 – Vancouver, BC @ The Orpheum Theatre *

Wed. Dec. 11 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre *

Fri. Dec. 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot *

Sat. Dec. 14 – Denver, CO @ The Gothic Theatre *

Sun. Dec. 15 – Denver, CO @ The Gothic Theatre *

* = w/ Vagabon

^ = w/ Madi Diaz

#= w/ Rodrigo Amarante

&= w/ Lean Year