Angel Olsen at Koko

Angel Olsen
Little Wings
Koko, 17 October 2016

It's clear that in the couple of years since her last album Angel Olsen has become a little less lo-fi and a little more indie star. It's notable when her band arrive on stage wearing matching blue suits (boasting no less than two badass female musicians!) and the lights swirl like an arena show as the audience eagerly anticipate her long-awaited entrance. I sense the crowd getting excited as she emerges, all sulky pout and pointy, pin-up girl eyebrows. This is something you can only get away when you get to a certain level and judging by tonight's show (and another already booked for next year at the far bigger Roundhouse), Olsen is clearly on the up and on her way towards pop stardom.

Maybe because of this, Olsen seems more confident than previous times I've seen her and also a lot more talkative (at times). At one point she asks us, "Kyle from Little Wings told me this place is haunted by the ghost of a woman named Anne. Is that true?" The place goes silent, obviously contemplating spooky things, before someone calls out "She's behind you!"Unspooked Olsen quickly quips with a big grin, "Well, at least she's behind me and not against me".

Olsen was apparently adopted at three years old by a much older couple which makes so much sense seeing her and listening to her now. It has clearly influenced her style (tonight in a smart blue jumper, brooch and wide-legged trousers, she's the picture of old school granny glam) and her music, which has echoes of the pop noir and drama of 50s singers like Skeeter Davis and Roy Orbison (as well as 90s grunge and alternative rock of course).

She begins the show in this vein with her song, Never Been Mine, from her new album My Woman, which sounds like The Shangri-La's at their most sulky and cool. It's fascinating to watch Olsen, with her delicate face and petite stature, and hear this big, quivering, voice so full of emotion and heartbreak. It's exactly what makes going to see great singers live so wonderful.

"I'd like to tell you something but..." she says dramatically, before breaking into the fantastic single, Shut Up And Kiss Me (which has a beautifully David Lynch-esque video), probably the closest she's come to pop so far. The show's focus is the material from her new album but there are a few older tunes thrown in for good measure (Hi-Five, Forgiven/Forgotten, Lights Out and Acrobat) and even a few new tunes ("That's not on any record, we just felt like playing it" she says after one), which all fit the mood so perfectly it doesn't really matter that the crowd is unfamiliar with them, in fact they react just as enthusiastically.

But it's the My Woman tracks that make the most impact. The nearly ten minute version of Sister, which builds and builds until Olsen and backing singer Heather McEntire are crying out, "All my life I thought I changed", leaving the audience equally mesmerised and heartbroken at the beauty of it all. Perhaps the greatest moments though come with the encore when Olsen leaves down her guitar to sing over a chorus of synths on the song Intern. It's moody, atmospheric and almost prog rock, if prog rock went country Gothic that is. This mood is kept up with the final song, Woman, a intense torch song that sounds like the soundtrack to a dark film with almost whispered vocals that builds to an epic finale of slow guitar solos and gorgeous swirling vocals. It's an absolutely glorious way to end the show. What a unique talent this woman is.

Supporting tonight were the quirky Little Wings, led by the tall and very bearded Kyle Field. When they first come on (Field accompanied by a rather bored looking bassist and a singing, grey-haired drummer), they sound like a country act and in my head I dub Field as the indie Don Williams (he really did sound like him sometimes). But as their set progresses it's clear they are more in the quirky indie folk vein, with humorous lyrics and laid back breezy tales, which all proved to be both fun and entertaining. I even liked Field's white cowboy hat which he only employed for certain songs. Very cool indeed.