Angel Olsen: Cosmic Waves Vol 1 review – intriguing half compilation, half covers

(somethingscosmic)
Five rising artists each perform one of their songs, then the US singer-songwriter covers another one of their tracks in a set of woebegone elegance

Angel Olsen’s last album was 2022’s country-tinged, grief-wrought Big Time; a stopgap EP, Forever Means, came out in 2023. Cosmic Waves Volume 1 feels like the work of an artist buying more time, but in a good way – investing in community via her own bijou label. This compilation amplifies five lesser-known artists and provides a welcome instalment of Olsen’s classic, haunted balladeering. A “compilation reimagined as a dialogue”, Cosmic Waves showcases those five acts on the A-side, with Olsen covering one each of their tracks on the B-side.

Her selections centre mostly on LA, and zigzag from the spirited, goth grunge of Poppy Jean Crawford (Glamorous) to the Talking Heads bent of Coffin Prick, the most sonically adventurous player here. You can hear parallels between the whirrs of his work and Olsen’s own cavernous resonances. From Camp Saint Helene and erstwhile actor Sarah Grace White come sounds that translate more immediately into Olsen’s plangent retro makeovers. The all-Olsen half stands alone as an EP of woebegone elegance. She has toured and duetted with Maxim Ludwig, and while his track is standard man-at-piano fare, Olsen’s version of his Born Too Blue, with its easy classicism, is a standout here.