Angel Olsen’s “May as Well” is Relatable and Heartbreaking

Anna Marketti ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Angel Olsen left us all in awe when she released Burn Your Fire For No Witness back in February. Her delicate, lo-fi songs brought us back to the heartwarming singer-songwriter stylings of 60s artists like Joni Mitchell and Mama Cass with their full voices and trembling guitars. So if you feel in love with Angel Olsen this past winter, you can liven up this upcoming one with some bonus tracks to be added to a deluxe release of Burn Your Fire, to be released November 28th. Until then, however, she plans on releasing one bonus track at a time, and she began with “May As Well”.

Her melancholy tone fuses sweetly with her poetic lyrics, mixing into a vintage sound that resonates with the rest of her album. The guitar is so bare bones it’s nearly nonexistent, yet present enough to support her endearing warbling.

Listening to “May As Well”, I’m transported to my grandmother’s living room, sitting on her overstuffed couch in front of the quilt draped over the back that’s older than her. “May As Well” is the sweet, familiar warmth you get from listening to grandma tell you the story, again, of how she met your grandfather.

A sad sort of love song, her lyrics are urgent and gripping, yet fall lazily with her lamenting tone. The fullness in her voice tricks you into believing it’s a pleasant song about two lovers, but paying closer attention, you hear a disconnect, a brokenness inside her as she painfully admits, “If you really love me/there’s no way to tell.”

Angel Olsen strikes deep into the heartbreak so many of us are familiar with, portraying it not as anger or sadness that her lover doesn’t care about her, but more a disappointment with the realization that they never did, and never will. Yet she settles into this realization, accepting it for what it is- that’s not to say it’s still not hurting her.

Crafting a bonus track that’s good enough to be on the album, she leaves us eager for more, wanting the rest of these promised bonus tracks to continue this narrative she’s begun.