All Mirrors

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All Mirrors
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 4, 2019 (2019-10-04)
StudioSargent Recorders (Los Angeles, California)
GenreArt pop[1][2]
Length48:33
LabelJagjaguwar
Producer
Angel Olsen chronology
Phases
(2017)
All Mirrors
(2019)
Whole New Mess
(2020)
Angel Olsen studio album chronology
My Woman
(2016)
All Mirrors
(2019)
Big Time
(2022)
Singles from All Mirrors
  1. "All Mirrors"
    Released: July 30, 2019
  2. "Lark"
    Released: September 12, 2019

All Mirrors is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Angel Olsen, released on October 4, 2019 by Jagjaguwar. Produced by Angel Olsen and John Congleton, the album was preceded by two singles, the title track and "Lark".[3][4] Both releases were accompanied by music videos directed by Olsen's friend and longtime collaborator Ashley Connors. The album received widespread acclaim from music critics and debuted at No. 52 on the Billboard 200.

In August 2020 Olsen released Whole New Mess, an album featuring rearranged and rerecorded versions of select songs from All Mirrors.

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.4/10[5]
Metacritic89/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
The A.V. ClubB−[8]
The Guardian[9]
The Independent[10]
Mojo[11]
NME[12]
Pitchfork8.9/10[13]
Q[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Uncut8/10[16]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, All Mirrors received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 from 27 critic scores.[6]

Stephen Deusner of Uncut praised the album, writing, "Even for an artist who has redefined herself with every record, All Mirrors is her boldest reinvention yet."[16] Victoria Segal of Mojo gave the album a favorable review, writing, "Behind the parachute silk and dry ice, the smoke and mirrors, stands a record in high emotional definition, its outline becoming sharper by the second."[11] Rachel Aroesti of Q wrote, "Novel and nostalgic, accessible and eccentric, All Mirrors strikes an impressive balance between the familiar and strange – resulting in an album that’s startling and breathtakingly beautiful."[14]

In the review for AllMusic, Marcy Donelson commended Olsen by claiming that "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."[7]

Track listing[edit]

All lyrics are written by Angel Olsen; all music is composed by Olsen and Ben Babbitt, except where noted

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Lark"6:19
2."All Mirrors"4:42
Side B
No.TitleLength
3."Too Easy"2:58
4."New Love Cassette"3:27
5."Spring"3:23
Side C
No.TitleLength
6."What It Is" (Olsen)3:17
7."Impasse"4:24
8."Tonight" (Olsen)4:39
Side D
No.TitleLength
9."Summer" (Olsen)4:05
10."Endgame"5:20
11."Chance"6:00
Total length:48:33

Personnel[edit]

Credits are adapted from the All Mirrors liner notes.[17]

Musicians

  • Angel Olsen – vocals (all tracks), guitar (1, 6, 8, 9), synthesizer (2, 3), piano (5, 10); string arrangements (2)
  • Joshua Jaeger – drums (all tracks); percussion (10)
  • Ben Babbitt – electric bass guitar (1–11), electric guitar (1, 2), synthesizer drones (1), Mellotron drones (1), synthesizers (2–4, 7, 9, 11), bass synthesizer (2–5, 7), baritone guitar (2, 7), E-bow electric guitar (3, 5), piano (4, 6, 8, 11), Mellotron (5, 11), 12-string acoustic guitar (5), vibraphone (7), upright bass (7, 10), fuzz bass (7), additional string textures on violin and cello (7); string arrangements (2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11)
  • Jherek Bischoff – string conducting (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11); string arrangements (1, 2, 4,)
  • Paris Hurley – violin I (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Laurann Angel – violin I (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Crystal Brooke Alforque – violin I (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Emily Call – violin II (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Rachel Iba – violin II (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Michelle Luna – violin II (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Madeline Falcone – viola (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Lauren Elizabeth Baba – viola (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Marta Sofia Honer – viola (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Aniela Marie Perry – cello (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • April Guthrie – cello (1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • Nathaniel Walcott – trumpet (8, 10), flugelhorn (8, 10); brass arrangement (8, 10)
  • Vikram Devasthali – trombone (8, 10)

Production and artwork

  • John Congleton – production; mixing
  • Angel Olsen – production
  • Sean Cook – assistant engineering
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Ben Babbitt – pre-production
  • Cameron McCool – album photography
  • Angel Olsen – styling
  • Jack Pitney – styling
  • Elyse Lightner – styling
  • Miles Johnson – art direction

Charts[edit]

Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 27
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 46
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 155
French Albums (SNEP)[21] 199
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] 74
Irish Albums (IRMA)[23] 49
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] 28
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[25] 13
Scottish Albums (OCC)[26] 11
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[27] 69
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 62
UK Albums (OCC)[29] 28
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[30] 7
US Billboard 200[31] 52

References[edit]

  1. ^ Richardson, Mark (September 25, 2019). "'All Mirrors' by Angel Olsen Review: A Surprising Turn". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  2. ^ Terich, Jeff (September 30, 2019). "Album of the Week: Angel Olsen – All Mirrors". Treble. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  3. ^ Strauss, Matthew (July 30, 2019). "Angel Olsen Announces New Album All Mirrors, Shares Video for New Song: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  4. ^ Aswad, Jem (September 12, 2019). "Angel Olsen Drops 'Lark,' Intense Second Video From Forthcoming Album". Variety. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  5. ^ "All Mirrors by Angel Olsen reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "All Mirrors by Angel Olsen Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Donelson, Marcy. "All Mirrors – Angel Olsen". AllMusic. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  8. ^ Zaleski, Annie (October 3, 2019). "Angel Olsen's All Mirrors is a gorgeous but fatiguing listen". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  9. ^ Petridis, Alexis (October 3, 2019). "Angel Olsen: All Mirrors review – shapeshifting songs to impress and unnerve". The Guardian. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  10. ^ Pollard, Alexandra (October 3, 2019). "Angel Olsen, All Mirrors review: An album as expansive as it is overwhelming". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2019-10-04. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Segal, Victoria (November 2019). "Here's looking at you... and you, and you". Mojo. No. 312. London. p. 92.
  12. ^ Hunt, El (October 3, 2019). "Angel Olsen – 'All Mirrors' review: lush self-love anthems for the aftermath of heartbreak". NME. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  13. ^ Snapes, Laura (October 4, 2019). "Angel Olsen: All Mirrors". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  14. ^ a b Aroesti, Rachel (November 2019). "Heart of Glass". Q. No. 404. London. p. 109.
  15. ^ Hermes, Will (October 2, 2019). "Angel Olsen's 'All Mirrors' is All About Ginormous Emotions and Epic Orchestrations". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Deusner, Stephen (November 2019). "Angel Olsen: All Mirrors". Uncut. No. 270. London. p. 30.
  17. ^ All Mirrors (CD booklet). Angel Olsen. Jagjaguwar. 2019.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Angel Olsen – All Mirrors". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  19. ^ "Ultratop.be – Angel Olsen – All Mirrors" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Angel Olsen – All Mirrors" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  21. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 42, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved October 22, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Angel Olsen – All Mirrors" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  23. ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 11 October 2019". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  24. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. October 14, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  25. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Angel Olsen – All Mirrors". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  26. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  27. ^ "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 41: del 4.10.2019 al 10.10.2019" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  28. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Angel Olsen – All Mirrors". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  29. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  30. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  31. ^ "Angel Olsen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2019.

External links[edit]