A pillowy synth can be a lot of things. It can even be a thrown gauntlet. That's what it is for Angel Olsen. That pillowy synth is the first thing we hear on My Woman, Olsen's new album, and it's a big, loud signal to anyone who's been keeping tabs on Olsen's career up until now. In interviews lately, Olsen has been doing everything she can to distance herself from the spectral folksinger she was on her 2012 album Half Way Home. On her last album, 2014's astonishing Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Olsen moved away from that sound, bringing in big and rowdy indie-rock guitars and boisterous, singalong-worthy hooks. But much of the album stayed within the parameters of that old sound, and so the label stuck to her. Right now, Olsen is making sure nobody will make that mistake again. And that's why we get "Intern," the shimmering pop number that opens My Woman. That album, along with the silvery wig that Olsen wears in the video, represent the biggest jump that Olsen can possibly make away from her old sound while still remaining within what she does really, really well. She's working with a pop professional this time out -- Sky Ferreira/Charli XCX collaborator Justin Raisen, who co-produced the album with Olsen. And with "Intern," she's found a whole new dark-neon context for her faded, flickering powerhouse voice. It's a bold statment, and an unmistakeable break from the past.