Here she sounds more assured, even in her darker moments, and her strong, versatile voice is as extraordinary as ever.
There’s more hope than mere heartbreak. Angel Olsen skillfully balances the album between her bullish lyrics and heart-pounding riffs in a way that makes the album feel short and sweet partially due to its breezy, 60’s Southern California flair.
My Woman is one of the realest albums of the year.
My Woman oozes unhurried glamour and moments of sweeping grandeur. Olsen shifts between genres with graceful precision, breaking down the limiting (and, sometimes, sexist) critiques that have dogged her career.
Her ambitious third record marks another giant progression in an already distinguished career, and offers provocative thoughts on sacrifice and identity that should long outlast its 48-minute runtime.
It’s ... an immensely varied and almost uncategorisable album of alt-pop music infected with a burgeoning artistry. It is utterly startling, one of the best records of the year.
While her previous album Burn Your Fire For No Witness seemed like a huge step up for her, My Woman seems even more like a statement.
Not only are all her greatest idiosyncrasies on flattering display throughout My Woman, but the album offers dozens of new reasons to fall deeply, unreasonably in love with her music.
While some tracks will surprise established fans, to say that My Woman is a departure or style swap for Olsen doesn't really take into account the album as a whole. The elements that are new here play out like a means to an end for a songwriter with a tale to tell, one chock-full of raw emotions.
The candidness on My Woman captures what makes Olsen such a compelling artist, making for an album that will stand as a critical release in her illustrious career.
Angel Olsen’s fearless and eloquent embrace of raw emotions in all their messy splendor ultimately feels oddly uplifting, the way it always does when you witness a gifted artist at her best.
Always keen to straddle music genres, Olsen continues to blend influences and styles and, in the process, creates a disarming and audacious album that defies categorization.
Individually, all of the songs are strong, self-contained bits of cleverly written and emotionally gripping indie rock ... Olsen has always been a compelling songwriter, but more than ever she showcases a range evident in just how versatile that songwriting is.
Angel Olsen isn’t a chameleon; she’s simply one of the best songwriters we have, who can play any style of music she turns her muse to. MY WOMAN is Olsen at the top of her game - heartfelt, insightful and musically adventurous.
My Woman walks a tightrope of love to figure out what it is—how to find it, how to allow it in, how to feel it, how to fight for it, how to let it go—by a person who does not lose herself in the process.
From the surreal, cloudy opening of ‘Intern’ to the wild and noisy guitars that close out ‘Sister,’ MY WOMAN feels like an authentic trip into Angel Olsen’s mind. It may not be perfect - and it’s certainly not all roses - but it’s real.
Side-stepping the folk and rock touches of earlier work, it finds the singer’s voice complemented by a deep swell of vintage synths. Her familiar vibrato mixes together elements of malaise, drive, disappointment, and hope.
The perfect example of an artist moving forward, without losing any of the magic that first brought her to our attention.
My Woman amounts to Olsen's most ambitious work, its contrast and contradiction fitting no neat narrative.
Here, Olsen has fallen back in love with her timbre. She jumps around scales, introduces some gorgeous work in the higher registers, and employs a breathiness in Those Were the Days that transcends flirtatiousness.
In terms of composition and production, MY WOMAN is Olsen’s most ambitious album yet. Taking a more polished — though not straight-up glossy — approach, Olsen sounds more vulnerable for having made her vocals more central to the mix.
It’s addictive yet confusing, instantaneous yet difficult to fully understand – it continually forces to you to cease arguing, and simply listen.
A fascinating, affecting statement from a musician firmly in control of her artistry.
What is consistent is Olsen's musical personality, which feels perfectly at ease and singular, irrespective of producers or genres or other boxes that might try to contain it.
What makes My Woman great isn't the new synths or the rockier tone. It's Olsen herself, filling these songs with the love, desire, anguish and acceptance that comes from her perspective as a woman.
As with her previous efforts Olsen’s unique vocal steals the show, but this is the singer opening up all the other parts to her personality. The more we see, the more there is to love.
My Woman is a record coated in the sounds of radio’s past, a potpourri of classic rock gestures and doo-wop sway, yet Olsen’s mindset is anything but nostalgic.
It’s more ambitious than her last one; better too. But I simply don’t think the formulaic songwriting is worthy of praise, nor the very notion of being more ambitious.
It’s an album steeped in 1960s jangle pop, swirling psychedelia, and other classic influences that further breaks Olsen’s music away from anything that could definitively be called folk rock.
My Woman is an odd, somewhat mismatched collection of good and then great songs that could have been more ghostly.
pride month day 18
i absolutely love all mirrors, but for some reason i never got around to listening to any of angels other albums. and man, am i glad to have finally decided to listen to this album. i don’t really have much to say other than the fact that this is beautiful. i just love angel’s voice as well as the production on this. this shit is just so pretty
faves: never be mine, shut up kiss me, give it up, those were the days, pops
least faves: heart shaped face, women
My favorite record of the year. Incredible second half. Fantastic voice. Fucking massive.
MY WOMAN is a stunning singer-songwriter showcase. Angel flips between the lilt of Motown ("Never Be Mine"), the croon of Dolly ("Sister"), and the wailing immediacy of Siouxsee ("Shut Up Kiss Me") with ease as she incorporates various genres throughout the record. Her powerhouse vocals underscore the turmoil inherent in the lyrical conceit of the album: the inherent struggle to find and maintain your identity in the face of love.
This is the quintessential Angel Olsen record and also is the perfect transition between BYFFNW and All Mirrors.
HIGHLIGHTS: INTERN, SHUT UP KISS ME, HEART SHAPED FACE, SISTER, WOMAN
WORST TRACK: THOSE WERE THE DAYS
1 | Intern 2:46 | 90 |
2 | Never Be Mine 3:41 | 90 |
3 | Shut Up Kiss Me 3:22 | 94 |
4 | Give It Up 2:56 | 86 |
5 | Not Gonna Kill You 4:57 | 87 |
6 | Heart Shaped Face 5:32 | 88 |
7 | Sister 7:45 | 93 |
8 | Those Were the Days 4:19 | 87 |
9 | Woman 7:37 | 91 |
10 | Pops 4:41 | 89 |
#1 | / | American Songwriter |
#1 | / | BrooklynVegan |
#2 | / | BLARE |
#2 | / | Cosmopolitan |
#3 | / | A.V. Club |
#3 | / | The Daily Beast |
#3 | / | Under the Radar |
#4 | / | FLOOD |
#4 | / | Sputnikmusic |
#4 | / | The Wild Honey Pie |