HER BRIGHT MATERIALS
THE Montford neighbourhood of Asheville, North Carolina feels like a secret garden. Historic homes are framed by kindly old trees, crawling ivy, blooming hostas and rustic stone. A chorus of birds flies in constant song. Walking the narrow streets, there’s a congruent sense of charm and mystery, the product of its fiercely protected antiqueness, like a fairytale hideaway from the Brothers Grimm.
“That’s the house,” Angel Olsen explains, pointing across the street. “That was my dream house.” Olsen has lived in Asheville for six years, and has recently become a homeowner. But the house she gazes at is not hers. This house is a relic of a former life. Its pitched roof and gable are reminiscent of the so-called Storybook homes built throughout the 1920s, part English cottage and part Swiss chalet, with a generous helping of Seuss-ian whimsy. For years, Olsen admired this charming little home. It was an aspirational symbol of the security and prosperity she desired for herself and her future family, one that seemed increasingly realistic amid her growing success.
A native of St Louis, Missouri, Olsen has been making records for a decade, but her breakthrough came with 2014’s Burn Your Fire For No Witness, her folk-rock crossover and debut for indie stalwart Jagjaguwar. She was first a fixture on the Chicago DIY scene, playing basement shows and releasing homespun cassettes of modern folk songs characterised by her wild and unique voice. In Chicago, Olsen gained momentum with her second record, an earthen folk tome titled Half Way Home, which she recorded at the home of the singer, songwriter and producer Emmett Kelly, with whom she played in Will Olham’s backing band. She then moved to Asheville and released Burn Your Fire… – a breakthrough set that reframed her as the leader of
