Angel Olsen – “Waving, Smiling”

Angel Olsen – “Waving, Smiling”

Angel Olsen recently announced the release of Whole New Mess, the original, stripped-down version of the album that eventually became last year’s ambitious All Mirrors. In addition to nine songs familiar from All Mirrors, Whole New Mess also features two new tracks. We’ve already heard one, the title track, and now Olsen is sharing the other, “Waving, Smiling.”

“‘Waving, Smiling’ in my head is the last scene, a slow motion realization of love not lost but at peace somewhere within myself,” Olsen explains in a statement. “It’s the bittersweet end of a chapter of my life — it is the final acceptance that despite coming to an end all of that time was not lost or wasted.”

“I’ve made my bed, made up of all my fears/ all my fears cried out all of those years/ cried out all of those years/ Now baby I’m lying/ Laid out and smiling,” Olsen sings on the lovely, spare song. The studio track is accompanied by an intimate live performance video shot by Ashley Connor at Asheville’s Masonic Temple. Watch and listen below and read our recent cover story on Angel Olsen and the making of Whole New Mess here.

Whole New Mess is out 8/28 via Jagjaguwar and available for pre-order here. The same day, she’ll perform a livestreamed concert titled Cosmic Stream 3 from the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater in Asheville; buy tickets here.

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