Strange Cacti finds Angel Olsens beginnings in a stripped down lo-fi indie folks soundscape with a sparse, melancholy and bittersweet mood. 'If It's Alive, It Will' is the obvious highlight in a 21 minute EP that sounds very similar throughout the runtime as Angel and her guitar stand together. The dark and lonely feeling of the album is powerful but some more, even subtle, variation on this theme could go a long way; it becomes taxing on the listener even as an EP. Hindsight is 20-20 but it is obvious Angel showed major potential with this release and it is great for us that she delivered with a stretch of LPs that all deliver greatness. The best part is in all of those LPs you can still hear the influence of this strange, borderline haunting EP even in the most approachable of her new material. The melancholy beginnings of one of the best Singer/Songwriters of the last five years.
Bump |
