Hey you're listening to World Cafe I'm Calero Angel Olson's 4th album all mirrors is a departure from her indie rock sensibility of albums past wasn't even supposed to be that kind of departure the songs were initially recorded as sparse and stripped down numbers in the style of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska then Olson went the other way and the songs grew as she worked with a different group of musicians and the results are spectacular all mirrors is a lush and big album with strings and keyboards doing a lot of the heavy lifting and inverse version of the Nebraska situation you might That is a performance of all mirrors it's angel Olsen in performance for the World Cafe her new album is all mirrors available now Angel welcome to the show thank you so the record originally even though it is this very beautiful lush layered record its initial beginnings have a little bit to do with the record you would never associate with that which would be Nebraska from Bruce Springsteen is that correct Yeah well I I made a. Stripped down version of these songs sort of along the lines as my 1st e.p. Strange fact I was home recorded so that was the goal and then eventually the songs grew and I wanted them to take on different forms and so now I have 2 versions of them but no one has heard you know the other version and yet when did you realize these songs needed something more after you recorded it when you were sitting in a living with well I had I had gone on a solo tour and performed a lot of the songs and knew that they could grow and become other piece but I also enjoyed the way that they were stripped down so I just wanted to continue to do that I guess it was more of an experiment to see if I recorded these songs in the form that I wanted. What did allow me to collaborate more on them and the truth is that yes it did and so a lot of them change form completely. Which was it was difficult at 1st and then became really really fun when you say difficult at 1st and then lead to fun what was what was that sort of aha moment. When I started to realize that the collaborators involved the string Rangers and Jon Congleton had these textures and mind it didn't immediately make sense to me. Some of the arrangements were so crazy that I was I wasn't sure if they would work on the songs and I had to allow myself to imagine them in a different way and I had just recorded a solo version of it so I needed to sort of separate that experience from this other experience and so that was the hardest part and then once I was in it and saw the that certain textures and since and strings had had a kind of pattern within the record it started to make more sense it's cool that you have these these collaborators but I also read that part of this process was was also taking control in a certain way and that. I want to make sure that this right but the people that maybe you're backing band that you had worked with in the past you went with a different group of personnel when you actually recorded the record I want to make sure I get this right Ok so I made these songs I want to strings on them it didn't make sense to ask my backing band which had been a rock n roll band to be a part of the project initially and I wasn't Yeah it was all kind of coming together piece by piece every part of it so. The drummer ended up being the one person of the backing band that was part of it but I had to kind of like hey you know this is the 1st time that I'm not working with you as sort of the director of what's happening. This guy Ben Babbitt and I are working together and we're coming up with the parts for the songs you know will come to you after we're finished with them and it was this sort of backwards thing but I needed to take a minute away from the way that my woman and previous records had been done because this one just it just didn't. Require the same feeling and I knew that it would need bass and drums and all of that but I didn't know exactly how or how many songs would need them and then eventually I realized all of them would but at 1st I thought of some things would just be strings only got it you know so it was a lot of because I didn't know who I would need I just decided to do that sort of last so in the middle of the project I didn't want to call people in and say hey can you come over now I just wanted to be clear and so yeah it was hard it was hard to say hey I don't want to be a part of this because it's really different you know it's hard to do that you know I admire candor and honesty talking about that we're talking to angels in the new album is all mirrors this is The World Cafe You know the critical response on the record has been nothing short of incredible just a lot of the major to do publications have really embraced that record and sometimes after a little bit of a sonic shift there's always that are they abandon ing their sound or anything like that Were you surprised with the response that you've received critically on this record I was I don't think every record will be like this in the future you know I shifted sounds because I needed these songs to fit into a different. Background and I am surprised because you know a friend of mine was saying that oh they've got the new record on at this restaurant it's a really nice restaurant and they're blasting it and I was like I better be careful because like they're speakers because it's pretty loud at points on expectantly and it's in my mind I was just very surprised that anybody would be listening to it sort of casually because for me that's more of the previous record that I made and this one is more maybe it's not for everybody because it's so focused we're talking angels and hear her new album is all mirrors is a beautiful record a full song on the record that we. Really liked they were going to hear next called chance can you tell us about it. So chance I wrote it was one of the last songs I wrote for the record and. Yeah it was one of the most difficult songs to to mix because it was so lengthy and it didn't seem as as difficult when I recorded it solo but when we added strings and all of these. Stuff on piano and there's just a lot going on but it ended up being in the end my favorite track of the record awesome oh we're so glad that we can play it and like you said the band is tremendous This is a live recording folks here on the World Cafe it's in performance this is chance. I. Lol. In performance for the World Cafe it's angel Olsen summer. Something light hearted because I read that you are a cat person I am. I'm actually you are with you not a great. First for me man you interviewed your new role the world. Crazy Cat Lady how you called yourself a crazy cat lady no more than one I mean I'm not crazy yet but I worry that one day I'll be living alone and I'll just accidentally eat her food you know I mean you know the musicians take pats on tour do you know anybody who's done that. I can't take file out on tour she's huge She's at least 16 pounds Oh you have a child she's like she's really fluffy and really big Ok yeah it's kind of amazing Yeah so someone is going to watch her someone staying with her and hanging out and she's got that or can a cat food as she's got her fur is great yeah she's going to be so happy to see you just wonder what I face time her last night even do you have one of those pet cubes where you can do the laser pointer or you like feed them you can and they can hear your voice I need to work on that maybe some someone can bring that to the show tonight. That would be a great after the show I excuse me I have violet time for us and we're talking to angels in the new album is all mirrors thanks so much for coming in and sharing the songs with us and sharing some stories behind them thanks so much for having me you got to come back and see assume it's angels and we'll be back in a moment on World Cafe. Welcome back to World Cafe thanks so much to our guest Angel Olsen Her album is available now and the producer John Myers for his work on the session back into it with Ray Lamontagne forever my friend. This is. 'd that's pretty Howard from the excellent debut album Jamie that stay high really a remarkable year for her and our next artist big thief who released 2 fantastic records split sides of a coin split half of a record depends on how you say it but they sound inverse of one another this is more the stripped down record called 2 hands from it forgotten eyes it's big thief new music on world. That song occasionally should have a warning in front of it that you will cry if you are in any kind of emotional state that is with everybody hurts I'll be back in a moment after I get some tissues World Cafe. Welcome back to world music. This is. Leg. libs live their listening to the World Cafe support for World Cafe as provided by the community concert hall of 4 Lewis College presenting the Bardi wranglers Christmas Jubilee That's coming up Wednesday evening at 730 a traditional cowboy Christmas show featuring their unique style of Western music cowboy poetry and humor tickets and details are online at Durango concerts dot com This is k u t e Ignacio Kadian g. Durango pay us w. Floor of a step in. The springs we're online at k s u t dot org. We continue with World Cafe support is provided by Bank of the San Juans offering a complete line of business loans that can help build a dream business bank at the San Juans one big happy little bank with locations in Durango and prognosis Springs member f.d.i.c equal housing lender. Hey everybody you're listening to World Cafe My name is Calero 40 years ago on December 14th 1989 the only band that mattered released one of the greatest double albums ever today we're looking back at the history and the legacy of the clashes. Yes London Calling the masterpiece from The Clash and today we will dive into some of the originals from the album like Rudy can't fail. And some of the great covers that came out of London Calling like any Lennox's version of train in vain 6. Plus class related projects like the best Palermo's and Big Audio Dynamite live. It's an hour with The Clash on the 40th anniversary of the London Calling coming up on today's World Cafe it's such an incredible album I am so happy to spend time with it and we will have time for class related projects including Joe Strummer and the best Calero those Here's get down Moses here the World Cafe.