Angel Olsen performed an intimate, stripped-down mini-set as part of the virtual Adult Swim Festival this weekend.
Accompanied only by electric guitar, Olsen — who performed live, and not prerecorded, for the livestream — played four tracks from her 2020 LP Whole New Mess, itself a bare bones version of 2019’s All Mirrors: “We Are All Mirrors,” “Chance (Forever Love),” “Whole New Mess” and “Tonight (Without You).”
Earlier this year, Olsen released Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories —a box set featuring Whole New Mess, All Mirrors and a bonus LP — the collaborative single “Like I Used To” with Sharon Van Etten, and Aisles, an EP filled with covers of Eighties new wave tracks like Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without a Face” and Men Without Hats’ “The Safety Dance.”
“I know it’s not really in my history to do something unintentional or just for the hell of it, but my connection to these songs is pretty straightforward,” Olsen said of that EP in a statement. “I just wanted to have a little fun and be a little more spontaneous, and I think I needed to remember that I could!”
This weekend’s Adult Swim Fest also featured virtual sets from 21 Savage, 070 Shake, Sheer Mag, Karol G, Flying Lotus, Lil Baby and the premiere of Run the Jewels’ “Never Look Back” video.