Angel Olsen

** UPGRADED TO GORILLA **

Many of the superlatives describing Angel Olsen refer to how seemingly little it takes for her to leave an audience speechless, even spellbound. But Olsen has never been as timid as those descriptors imply, and the noisy, fiery hints in her earlier work find a fuller expression on her newest LP, Burn Your Fire For No Witness. Here, Olsen sings with full-throated exultation, admonition and bold, expressive melody. Also, with the help of producer John Congleton, her music now crackles with a churning, rumbling low end and a brighter energy.

Angel Olsen began singing as a young girl in St. Louis, where she explored the remarkable range of her voice and the places it could take her songwriting. Her self-released debut EP, Strange Cacti, belied both that early period of discovery and her Midwestern roots. Cautious and homespun on the one hand, the EP transported us to a mystical, unrecognisable world on the other, and it garnered extensive praise for its enigmatic beauty. Olsen then went further on Half Way Home, her first full-length album (released on Bathetic Records), which mined essential themes while showcasing a more developed voice. Olsen dared to be more personal.

Tour support comes from Rodrigo Amarante, the Brazilian songwriter and multi-intrumentalist who has made an international name with his band Little Joy (alongside The Strokes’ drummer Fab Moretti and Binki Shapiro), and by recording and playing with Devendra Banhart on his last three albums. After the last five years of voluntary exile in the US, he has now made his first solo album entitled Cavalo, which was released in May.

Opening in Manchester is Ryley Walker, a 24 year-old singer/songwriter and guitarist from Chicago. Walker recently turned to his folk-rock sound, inspired by some of his heroes Bert Jansch, Tim Buckley and Tim Hardin.

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