Angel Olsen: Her Bright Materials

Welcome to Asheville, North Carolina, where ANGEL OLSEN is poised to release her new album, All Mirrors. Erin Osmon joins the singer-songwriter at home to discuss heartbreak, fantasy property deals and her latest bold pop experiment. “Sometimes your dreams are not what they seem,” she says

THE Montford neighbourhood of Asheville, North Carolina feels like a secret garden. Historic homes are framed by kindly old trees, crawling ivy, blooming hostas and rustic stone. A chorus of birds flies in constant song. Walking the narrow streets, there’s a congruent sense of charm and mystery, the product of its fiercely protected antiqueness, like a fairytale hideaway from the Brothers Grimm.

“That’s the house,” Angel Olsen explains, pointing across the street. “That was my dream house.” Olsen has lived in Asheville for six years, and has recently become a homeowner. But the house she gazes at is not hers. This house is a relic of a former life. Its pitched roof and gable are reminiscent of the so-called Storybook homes built throughout the 1920s, part English cottage and part Swiss chalet, with a generous helping of Seuss-ian whimsy. For years, Olsen admired this charming little home. It was an aspirational symbol of the security and prosperity she desired for herself and her future family, one that seemed increasingly realistic amid her growing success.