Angel Olsen reveals ‘Through The Fires’

18.05.2022

ANGEL OLSEN REVEALS ‘THROUGH THE FIRES’

NEW SINGLE OFF BIG TIME, OUT 3 JUNE ON JAGJAGUWAR

BIG TIME FILM BY OLSEN & KIMBERLY STUCKWISCH PREMIERING 2 JUNE

UK TOUR IN OCTOBER INCLUDING LONDON’S O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON, TOMBERLIN JUST ADDED AS SUPPORT

“Grief and light combine to potent effect”

4/5 Mojo ‘Album of the Month’

“Truth, turning points and a melodious calm”

8/10 Uncut

Watch the lyric video for ‘Through The Fires’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QXDHL_c65M

“’Through The Fires’ is the centerpiece statement of this record. It’s a song I wrote to remind myself that this life is temporary, the past is not something to dwell on, that it’s important to keep moving, keep searching for the people that are also searching, and to notice the moments that are lighter and bigger than whatever trouble I’ve encountered.” – Angel Olsen on ‘Through The Fires’

Angel Olsen will release her new album, Big Time, on 3 June via Jagjaguwar. Ahead of its release, she’s presented gorgeous singles, ‘All The Good Times‘ and the album’s title track, and today unveils the album’s centerpiece ‘Through The Fires’. 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. This is immediate in ‘Through The Fires’, throughout which Olsen’s singular voice unfurls over piano, drums and a string trio, as she commemorates working through and breaking self-boundaries to find one’s true self. It’s heartbreaking and resilient all at once. The single is accompanied by a lyric video shot by Angela Ricciardi.

‘Through The Fires’ lyrics:

I lost sight, then I made up my mind To learn to release the dreams that had died In spite of the sound of what I had heard To recognize truth without any word I felt the change and it came back around Then I moved in to the feeling I found And the feeling I found Showed me how I could lose to love without boundary and put it to use To remember the ghost Who exists in the past But be freed from the longing For one moment to last And walk through the fires Of all earthly desires And let go of the pain that obstructs you from higher higher higher Higher higher higher higher higher lighter lighter lighter

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; both of Olsen’s parents passed within weeks of each other, just after Olsen came out to them.

Big Time was recorded and mixed with co-producer Jonathan Wilson at his Fivestar Studios in Topanga, California. Drew Erickson played piano, organ, and handled string arrangements, and Olsen’s longtime bandmate, Emily Elhaj, played bass throughout. Big Time proves Olsen is now writing from a more rooted place of clarity. While her previous record, All Mirrors, was full of dramatic shifts and twists, here the surprises come in their simplicity—a slow swell of strings, instrumentation that cycles like a storm, or sparkling horns in a light-flooded break-up ballad. These are songs not just about transformational mourning, but of finding freedom and joy in the privations as they come.

As previously announced, every CD and LP copy of Big Time ordered directly from the 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.

Recently, Olsen and director Kimberly Stuckwisch announced a new film, also titled Big Time, presented by Amazon Music. The 28-minute film premieres June 2nd at 2:30am BST on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and via the Amazon Music App. The Big Time Twitch Watch Party will also feature a Q+A with both Olsen and Kimberly, followed by a concert airing from the premiere party at Brain Dead Studios in Los Angeles.

Angel kicks off The Wild Hearts Tour with Sharon Van Etten, Julien Baker and Spencer. this July, and will tour Europe this autumn with support just added from Tomberlin. All dates are below and on sale now.

Pre-order Big Time here: https://www.secretlystore.com/angel-olsen-big-time

Watch the previously shared video for ‘All The Good Times’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjXQWZryxOM

Watch the previously shared video for ‘Big Time’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MG7vZRyyj4

Photo credit: Angela RicciardiHigh-res images can be found here ‘Big Time’ artwork. Photos and art are by Angela Ricciardi. Art design by Miles Johnson

European tour dates:

26 Sep – Lisbon, PT @ Capitólio 27 Sep – Lisbon, PT @ Capitólio 29 Sep – Madrid, ES @ La Riviera 30 Sep – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo 1 Oct – Lyon, FR @ L’ Epicerie Moderne 2 Oct – Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten 4 Oct – Munich, DE @ Freiheitshalle 5 Oct – Vienna, AT @ WUK 6 Oct – Warsaw, PL @ Palladium 7 Oct – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys 9 Oct – Stockholm, SE @ Berns 10 Oct – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller 11 Oct – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA 13 Oct – Cologne, DE @ Gloria 14 Oct – Paris, FR @ Bataclan 15 Oct – Leuven, BE @ Het Depot 16 Oct – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso

18 Oct – London @ O2 Academy Brixton 19 Oct – Bath @ The Forum 20 Oct – Edinburgh @ Usher Hall 21 Oct – Manchester @ Albert Hall 24 Oct – Dublin @ Vicar Street

Tickets are available here: https://angelolsen.com/#tour