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Angel Olsen On World Cafe

Angel Olsen's latest album is called <em>My Woman</em>.
Amanda Marsallis
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Courtesy of the artist
Angel Olsen's latest album is called My Woman.

In 2014, Angel Olsen reportedly told her publicist that she didn't want to do any more photo shoots in front of trees. That was the year she released her breakout record Burn Your Fire For No Witness, a melancholy heartbreaker that, in some cases, got her pigeonholed as a sad country singer. And lonely photos in front of trees weren't helping.

Enter Olsen's 2016 record My Woman, which shatters any wrongful assumptions anyone may have made about the North Carolina musician's melancholy tendencies. It features knockout vocals, driving guitars and a killer sense of humor that makes no apologies. Olsen is a tough-as-nails auteur with a distinct vision and the chops to execute it — from writing, arranging and co-producing My Woman to directing three of its music videos. She visited World Café to tear it up with live performances and to talk about rewriting her reputation, owning her vision and why she'll always find it easy to "be sad and complain."

Copyright 2017 XPN

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.