Today, Angel Olsen announced the follow-up to 2019's All Mirrors and its companion piece, 2020's Whole New Mess. Even though it's been a few years since Olsen's last proper album, she still had her hand in our favorite track from last year—the collaboration with Sharon Van Etten "Like I Used To"—and also did a handful of '80s covers for a project called Aisles. Now it seems that was all an aside for the larger work at play: Her next album Big Time is out June 3, and the first single is called "All the Good Times."
The context for Big Time's creation is heavy. The press releases explains the LP was written while Olsen was coming out as queer and experiencing her first queer love and heartbreak. She came out to her parents, which she'd been struggling to do for a while. “Some experiences just make you feel as though you’re five years old, no matter how wise or adult you think you are,” she wrote about that period. “Finally, at the ripe age of 34, I was free to be me.” Three days after celebrating, her father died. Two weeks after that, her mother was sent to the ER and passed soon after. Love and true acceptance followed by immense tragedy. Olsen began recording Big Time three weeks after her mother's funeral.
The video for "All the Good Times," which was directed by Kimberly Stuckwisch, finds Olsen packing memories—photos, journals, a glowing box of light—into a big truck. Scenes with her partner flash between her journey amidst large, green mountains. Toward the end, there are nods to Olsen's recent past with a silver tinsel wig that recalls the video for "Shut Up Kiss Me" followed by scenes of an alternate version of Olsen running toward her truck, or chasing herself down with the truck. It's surreal!
Over delicate percussion that later swells with bursts of brass and soulful organ wails, "All the Good Times" could be addressing different parts of her past—maybe times with her partner or her family. It's also easy to imagine that Olsen is talking to a past version of herself when she sings: "I’ll be long gone, thanks for the songs / Guess it’s time to wake up from the trip we’ve been on." It's an instant classic.
Watch "All the Good Times" below, and pre-order Big Time here.
