Following the release of Big Time, Angel Olsen’s stunning 2022 record, Olsen has now announced Forever Means, her new EP out on April 14th. Olsen has also presented its lead single, ‘Nothing’s Free’.
Forever Means collects songs from the Big Time sessions that hold a common theme: within the wisdom borne from the twin stars of grief and love comes the realisation that there is no finish line, no destination or static end point to life while you’re living it. Olsen says, “Forever is to remain curious, never letting yourself think you’re finished learning or exploring, while trying also to be kind and honest”.
EP opener ‘Nothing’s Free’ – which features prominent piano and organ from Drew Erickson, and saxophone from Dan Higgins – is a song that is, according to Olsen, “about that point when self-denial breaks, and you notice how long you’ve been restraining who you are”. On ‘Nothing’s Free’, Olsen exudes comfort with the costs of her clarity, her heart and voice fixed on the present, the future, the not-yet-known and the beautifully unknowable. “It felt really difficult to exclude it from Big Time”, she admits, “but it felt more soulful than the direction of that record, it was coming from a different place. For me, when I wrote it, I was coming to terms with my identity and sexuality. I was opening up in a new way”.
A thoughtful extension of the Big Time chapter, Forever Means holds space for ‘Nothing’s Free’ and its three companions. These four precious songs are, in Olsen’s words, “in search of something else”. Co-produced and mixed by Jonathan Wilson, these are songs from Olsen’s roads traveled and the one’s ahead. “I was somewhere traveling”, says Olsen, “stopped for a few days and wandering the city, and I was thinking ‘what does forever really mean? What are the things I’m seeking in friendship or love, and how can forever be attainable if we’re always changing?’” Sitting with the reality of that entropy, Olsen realised “maybe the secret to ongoing love is to embrace change as part of love itself”.
Having recently wrapped a run of North American tour dates, Olsen is currently touring Australia, with full dates listed HERE. Angel was also recently announced for a prominent slot at this year’s End of the Road Festival as well as All Points East.
