Angel Olsen – “Lark” Video
Angel Olsen, an artist who has not yet released a less-than-great album, is about to hit us with a new one. Next month, Olsen will release All Mirrors, the follow-up to the 2016 stunner My Woman. Olsen recorded two different versions of the new album, and the one that we’re going to hear is the one that she made with Burn Your Fire For No Witness producer John Congleton and a 14-piece orchestra. We’ve already posted her video for the title track. Today, Olsen also shares the clip for “Lark,” the album’s opening track.
Like “All Mirrors,” “Lark” is a lush, immersive, atmospheric piece of music — the sort of thing that can absolutely fill up a room. The song lasts six minutes — starting out spare and bluesy before adding on more and more strings and guitars, blooming into something astonishingly beautiful. The moment where the echoed-out drums kick in and Olsen’s voice jumps from a murmur to a yelp is a total goosebump-raiser. The rest of the song moves from peak to peak, building and building. You know it’s a masterpiece the first time you hear it.
In director Ashley Connor’s video, that moment is even better. We’ve watched a distraught Olsen storm out of a house, jump into a stranger’s pickup truck, and stare into the sunrise. And when the song kicks in, she’s staring at the camera, standing atop a green mountain, singing at the top of her lungs — some real Sound Of Music shit. Olsen spends the rest of the video charging through nature — rolling through meadows, swimming in lakes, running across beaches with wild horses, screaming in the rain, finding emotional catharsis. It’s a gorgeous spectacle, and you can watch it below.
In a press release, Olsen says:
“Lark” is a song that took many years to finish. The disjointed feelings and verses of this song began to make sense as a way for me to exercise a kind of journey through grieving, a kind of personal struggle. The message of the song developed at first from an argument I once had with someone about trust and support. Later, I pulled from recurring themes in my life as a musician and as a human that dreams for a living. It’s easy to promise the world to those we love, but what about when our dreams change and values split?
Of the video, director Connor says:
“Lark” is the cathartic release we all ask for but so rarely get, an anthem to scream on the tops of hills or in the back of a truck or just in the privacy of our own home. We cried on beaches, we broke bones, got wet, rolled in the grass, danced around a fire with friends and gave each other a lot of hugs — an apt exploration of every broken heart we’ve ever had.
All Mirrors is out 10/4 on Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.