Angel Olsen’s brand of indie folk veers between the fiery and the ambrosial, weaving together dynamic combinations of vintage Americana and rock and roll. Her spellbinding voice and brilliantly eclectic songwriting made her third album, “Burn Your Fire for No Witness,” a top pick among music critics last year. Her subsequent worldwide tour in support of the record, as well as past collaborations with Bonnie Prince Billy, Tim Kinsella, and Leroy Bach, have made Olsen a well-known indie star. She returns to the road this week, and one of her early stops will be at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on Sunday, July 26. The Sound caught up with her by phone at her home in Asheville, N.C. to discuss her ever-evolving sound, being an introvert and an extrovert, and her views on music licensing.
You’ve toured all over the world at this point. Have you ever been to New Hampshire?
I think so. I feel like I’ve been to New Hampshire, but maybe not. I’m excited to explore the Northeast; I haven’t done that in awhile.
You don’t like to overstate the importance of your writing process, but with your crazy tour schedule and changes this past year, has that process changed at all?
Well, touring kept me from wanting to write on the road because, for me, I can’t always write in a voice memo. I like to write all the parts at once. Sometimes, it’s just like, all the writing at once and other times it’s all the music at once. What’s frustrating, I think, is when you’re traveling a lot, you don’t have as much time to finish things. So I’ll start stuff and then have to finish it later, which has gotten complicated. I’ve had more free time this year to enjoy life and feel free to write when I want to.
Are the band members more involved in the writing now?
No. (Guitarist and bassist) Stewart (Bronaugh) and (drummer) Josh (Jaeger) recorded with me and they added a lot of things that they heard on keys or guitar or drums. For the most part, the structure and the melodies are already created. I have been just messing around more with writing guitar parts lately, which is cool. That’s kind of new for me; usually it’s like, “Here’s the basic chords” (laughs), you know? So it’s cool to be like, ‘Here’s something you could play if you felt like playing it.” They are definitely more involved in bringing their attitude or what they’d be inclined to play into my music.
How much of an influence are other media on your songwriting?
I’ve always been kind of, I wouldn’t say a space cadet, but if I go see a movie with someone, it doesn’t just leave my head. I’m thinking about it for hours afterward, you know. It doesn’t mean I go write a song about it, but for as long as I can remember, I can be pretty, not impressionable, but impressed by stuff like that. I get in my head about it, romanticize it, and I use that to write and get into that mode of writing.
Will a dramatic movie produce a sad, dramatic song?
Yeah, I’ve thought about even getting more involved in doing scores because I write a lot of piano music on my own. I have a piano at home. I’m not necessarily trying to write a piano album at the moment, I just like playing and writing progressions and stuff like that. Maybe something like that could inspire a big, sad song. Other times, I remember, I was bitching to a friend of mine, being like, “I haven’t written anything in a long time; it’s hard to remember if it’s even possible.” You know, just feeling really down. And then later on that day, I wrote about something and it was very meta about writing. … I always feel like I’m tricking myself though, when I finish something, like I don’t even know how that happened.
You’ve mentioned watching “Twin Peaks” in previous interviews. Did it specifically influence any of your music?
No, but surprisingly, I have been really into ’80s Joy Division-y pop-synth stuff lately. My friend Alex Cameron is going to be touring with us in October; we’re going to the Northwest. He’s really amazing. If you haven’t heard his stuff, you should check it out — it’s so funny and so cool. I wouldn’t even say it’s ’80s pop, just like a guy in a suit with a microphone and his friend is playing saxophone with a drum machine and keyboards. It’s an amazing performance. I have been really into that kind of music lately. I don’t know if I’ll be making anything like that, but it’s funny. I feel like even friends of mine are like, “Do you go home and only listen to sad music?” I really like a lot of stuff that’s not related at all to what I write. So I’m not really sure where it’s coming from.
There are so many different sounds, from folk to punk influences and emotions, on “Burn Your Fire.” Is there a particular genre or sound you’re focused on while writing for the next record?
I really want to keep it electric. I’m definitely hearing more psychedelic stuff in things that I’m writing. But I’ve written things that could be like a Sibylle Baier song or something and I hear it and I’m like, “Shit, what direction am I going in?” I’ve talked to producers about this: I have no direction. I write in like four different styles, and I really need to just have something make sense. I don’t know. I think it can work out. It worked out on “Burn Your Fire.” There were so many different things happening and it was touching on different things for each song. I think it’ll be the same for this new one, but it’s hard to say now.
What do you think keeps “Burn Your Fire” so cohesive?
My voice is still in there. I’m not trying to be so mysterious or weird but I think there’s a theme, it’s like all of these different kinds of emotion, so each song has to sound different in order to relate to those emotions. They’re all addressing close to the same pool of feelings, but they’re all fashioned differently, a different angle of the same feeling or emotion. That, to me, brings it together. And also, you want to make the perfect playlist, you know? Looking back, maybe “Unfucktheworld” was the wrong one to begin the record? But, I feel like there’s enough of each style happening that they all kind of work together.
When will you start recording again?
I’d like to record this year, but it may be early next year, because some people are busy and I’d really like everyone to be available at the right time. I’d say I’m not nearly finished with writing it, so I don’t know, we’ll see. I don’t want to push it, I don’t want to just come out with something to keep it going. It seemed like when I finished this last record two months later, people were like, “What are you working on now?” and I was like, “Dude, I’m working on touring and my life. That 45 minutes you just heard took me a long time to make — give me a second.”
Angel Olsen will be at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on July 26. (photo by Autumn Northcraft)
Is there a sound for the record you have in mind?
I’m afraid to say too much about what I think it would be because I don’t want to be wrong or misleading. I’m writing more parts, more assorted guitar stuff. We’ll see what’s gonna happen. Each album is a totally different experience.
How does your solo performance differ without the band? Is it more or less intense for you?
For me, it’s more intense. But I also find myself talking more. Not for like 30 minutes, but you’ve got to interact with people more when it’s just you. Which I forgot about until recently (