Angel Olsen will release her new album, Big Time, on June 3rd on Jagjaguwar. Today, she has shared lead single/video, “All The Good Times.” Big Time was forged in a whiplash; the rare, fertile moments when both fresh grief and fresh love occur, when mourning and limerence heighten, complicate and explain each other. Loss has long been a subject of Olsen’s songs, but few can write elegies with quite the reckless energy as she. If that bursting-at-the-seams, running downhill energy has come to seem intractable to her work, Big Time proves Olsen is now writing from a more rooted place of clarity. She’s working with an elastic mastery of her voice—both sonically and artistically. These are songs not just about transformational mourning, but of finding freedom and joy in the privations as they come.

Big Time is an album about the expansive power of new love, written during the time Olsen was coming out as queer, and having her first experience of queer love and heartbreak. But this brightness and optimism is tempered by a profound and layered sense of loss. During Olsen’s process of coming to terms with her queerness and confronting the traumas that had been keeping her from fully accepting herself, she felt it was time to come out to her parents, a hurdle she’d been avoiding for some time. “Some experiences just make you feel as though you’re five years old, no matter how wise or adult you think you are,” she writes of that time. After that tearful but relieving conversation, she celebrated with her partner, their friends, oysters, and wine. “Finally, at the ripe age of 34, I was free to be me.” Three days later, her father died; his funeral became the occasion for Olsen to introduce her partner to her family. Only two weeks later Olsen got the call that her mother was in the ER. Hospice came soon after, and a second funeral came quickly on the heels of the first. Another trip back to St. Louis, another grief to face, another deepening and intensification of this still-new love. Three weeks after her mother’s funeral she was in the studio, recording this incredibly wise and tender new album, Big Time.

“I can’t say that I’m sorry / when I don’t feel so wrong anymore,” the record begins, her voice softer and more open than ever, as if she’s singing through a hard won smile. “All the Good Times,” a twangy banger with nods to JJ Cale, starts the album on a triumphant and bright note. The song’s video, starring Olsen and her partner, was directed by Kimberly Stuckwisch, who worked on last year’s “Like I Used To” video. Stuckwisch comments, “Angel’s story is a gift. It allowed me to visually explore the universal themes of love, loss, and most importantly what holds us back from realizing our true selves.”

Every CD and LP copy of Big Time ordered directly from the artist or label store will include an additional charge to offset the carbon emissions of each piece. Jagjaguwar, in partnership with Terra Lumina Consulting, calculated emissions and costs to achieve a carbon negative product for “cradle-to-grave” use of each physical piece: from the mining of materials, to pressing and shipping, to the electricity consumed by your stereo at home, to end of life disposal. Carbon offsets will be purchased through Native, supporting the Medford Spring Grassland project.

Angel Olsen
Big Time
Tracklist

1. All The Good Times
2. Big Time
3. Dream Thing
4. Ghost On
5. All The Flowers
6. Right Now
7. This Is How It Works
8. Go Home
9. Through The Fires
10. Chasing The Sun

Angel Olsen 2022 Tour Dates

Thu. Jul. 21 – Vienna, VA @ Wolf Trap Center For the Performing Arts *
Fri. Jul. 22 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit *
Sat. Jul. 23 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium * ^
Mon. Jul. 25 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater *
Thu. Jul. 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
Fri. Jul. 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
Sat. Jul 30 – Berkeley, Ca @ Greek Theatre *
Tu. Aug. 2 – Troutdale, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater *
Wed. Aug. 3 – Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Amphitheater *
Fri. Aug. 5 – Boise, ID @ Idaho Botanical Garden *
Sat. Aug. 6 – Salt Lake City, UT @ TBA *
Sun. Aug. 7 – Denver, CO @ Sculpture Park *
Tue. Aug. 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ Surly Brewing Festival Field *
Wed. Aug 10 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed *
Thu. Aug. 11 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe *
Fri. Aug. 12 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall * ^
Sat. Aug. 13 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall * ^
Mon. Aug. 15 – Shelburne, VT @ The Green at Shelburne Museum *
Tue. Aug. 16 – LaFayette, NY @ Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards *
Thu. Aug. 18 – Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion *
Fri. Aug. 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage at The Mann *
Sat. Aug. 20 – New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage *
Sun. Aug. 21 – New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage *
Mon. Sept. 26 – Lisbon, PT @ Capitólio
Tue. Sept. 27 – Lisbon, PT @ Capitólio
Thu. Sept. 29 – Madrid, ES @ La Riviera
Fri. Sep t. 30 – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo
Sat. Oct. 1 – Lyon, FR @ L’ Epicerie Moderne
Sun. Oct. 2 – Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten
Tue. Oct. 4 – Munich, DE @ Freiheitshalle
Wed. Oct. 5 – Vienna, AT @ WUK
Thu. Oct. 6 – Warsaw, PL @ Palladium
Fri. Oct. 7 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys
Sun. Oct. 9 – Stockholm, SE @ Berns
Mon. Oct. 10 -Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
Tue. Oct. 11 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
Thu. Oct. 13 – Cologne, DE @ Gloria
Fri. Oct 14 – Paris, FR @ Bataclan
Sat. Oct 15 – Leuven, BE @ Het Depot
Sun Oct 16 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Tue. Oct. 18 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
Wed. Oct. 19 – Bath, UK @ The Forum
Thu. Oct. 20 – Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall
Fri. Oct. 21 – Manchester , UK @ Albert Hall
Mon. Oct 24 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street

* = The Wild Hearts Tour co-headline with Sharon Van Etten, Julien Baker, with special guest Spencer.
^= no Spencer

Pre-Order Big Time by Angel Olsen HERE