When it came out in February, I told friends that the Angel Olsen album Burn Your Fire For No Witness was my favorite of the year so far. Now, here in late October, my love for that record has only grown deeper. The songs are sullen at times, on fire at others. All are memorable. It's one of those perfect records.
Now we have more to love from Angel Olsen. A deluxe edition of Burn Your Fire For No Witness is on the way, with five bonus tracks from the same sessions she recorded with producer John Congleton that produced the original album. We're premiering one of those five tracks for you here: "May As Well" starts out so starkly, just a steel string guitar and then her yearning voice. The phrasing is reminiscent of the old doo-wop song "Crying in the Chapel" by The Orioles. But where The Orioles song is about contentment and the love of God, Angel Olsen sings of a broken heart and a love that lives perhaps only in her mind.
The five bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of Burn Your Fire For No Witness include two songs that were released as a 7" for those who ordered the initial album and three others from the original recording sessions. The digital-only deluxe edition will be out on Nov. 18.
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