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All Mirrors

2019 studio album by Angel Olsen

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

All Mirrors is the fourth studio album by American art pop singer-songwriter Angel Olsen, released on October 4, 2019, by Jagjaguwar. Produced by Angel Olsen and John Congleton, the album was preceded by two singles, the title track and "Lark". Both releases were accompanied by music videos directed by Olsen's friend and longtime collaborator Ashley Connor. The album received widespread acclaim from music critics and debuted at No. 52 on the Billboard 200.

In August 2020 Olsen released Whole New Mess, a studio album featuring earlier recordings of select songs from All Mirrors.

01Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.4/10
Metacritic89/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
The A.V. ClubB−
The Guardian
The Independent
Mojo
NME
Pitchfork8.9/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Uncut8/10

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, All Mirrors received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 from 28 critic scores. Stephen Deusner of Uncut praised the album, writing, "Even for an artist who has redefined herself with every record, All Mirrors is her boldest reinvention yet." Victoria Segal of Mojo gave the album a favorable review, writing, "Behind the parachute silk and dry ice, the smoke and mirrors, stands a record in high emotional definition, its outline becoming sharper by the second." Rachel Aroesti of Q wrote, "Novel and nostalgic, accessible and eccentric, All Mirrors strikes an impressive balance between the familiar and strange, resulting in an album that’s startling and breathtakingly beautiful."

In the review for AllMusic, Marcy Donelson commended Olsen by claiming that "Though she may have initially built her reputation on stark and brittle atmospheres, it turns out that her trademark vulnerability is only elevated by these stirring, highly stylized interpretations, making it a risk that pays off in spades."

02Track listing

All lyrics are written by Angel Olsen; all music is composed by Olsen and Ben Babbitt, except where noted.

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Lark"6:19
2."All Mirrors"4:42
Side B
No.TitleLength
3."Too Easy"2:58
4."New Love Cassette"3:27
5."Spring"3:23
Side C
No.TitleLength
6."What It Is" (Olsen)3:17
7."Impasse"4:24
8."Tonight" (Olsen)4:39
Side D
No.TitleLength
9."Summer" (Olsen)4:05
10."Endgame"5:20
11."Chance"6:00
Total length:48:33

03Personnel

Credits are adapted from the All Mirrors liner notes.

Musicians

  • Angel Olsen, vocals (all tracks); guitar (1, 6, 8, 9); synthesizer (2, 3); piano (5, 10); string arrangements (2)
  • Joshua Jaeger, drums (all tracks); percussion (10)
  • Ben Babbitt, electric bass guitar (1-11); electric guitar (1, 2); synthesizer drones (1); Mellotron drones (1); synthesizers (2-4, 7, 9, 11); bass synthesizer (2-5, 7); baritone guitar (2, 7); EBow electric guitar (3, 5); piano (4, 6, 8, 11); Mellotron (5, 11); 12-string acoustic guitar (5); vibraphone (7); upright bass (7, 10); fuzz bass (7); additional string textures on violin and cello (7); string arrangements (2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11)
  • Jherek Bischoff, string conducting (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11); string arrangements (1, 2, 4,)
  • Paris Hurley, violin I (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Laurann Angel, violin I (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Crystal Brooke Alforque, violin I (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Emily Call, violin II (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Rachel Iba, violin II (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Michelle Luna, violin II (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Madeline Falcone, viola (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Lauren Elizabeth Baba, viola (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Marta Sofia Honer, viola (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Aniela Marie Perry, cello (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • April Guthrie, cello (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 11)
  • Nathaniel Walcott, trumpet (8, 10); flugelhorn (8, 10); brass arrangement (8, 10)
  • Vikram Devasthali, trombone (8, 10)

Production and artwork

04Charts

Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)27
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)46
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)155
French Albums (SNEP) 199
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)74
Irish Albums (IRMA)49
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 28
Portuguese Albums (AFP)13
Scottish Albums (Official Charts)11
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) 69
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)62
UK Albums (Official Charts)28
UK Independent Albums (Official Charts)7
US Billboard 20052
Watch videos about All MirrorsExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article All Mirrors, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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