The 1980s never end. And the big question about it: Why actually? Because pop culture as a whole still can’t come to an end with this decade. This is evident in aesthetic questions, but also in works like »Aisles by 34-year-old Angel Olsen. The five songs on this EP were written during the last year. Because after difficult months, the songwriter finally wanted to feel joy in music again. Recorded last winter in a friend’s studio in Asheville, Angel Olsen worked with two ideas for the cover versions of well-known songs from the eighties: Sometimes she pushed the songs in a completely different direction, sometimes she focused them even more on the core. Thus, the New Wave of »Safety Dance« becomes a cranky, chilled-out piece whose rhythm drags out the four minutes. Next to it are songs like »Eyes Without A Face«, in which Angel Olsen retains the dreamy atmosphere of the original. Which brings us to another big question: When is a cover version good? With Angel Olsen, the answer is simple. When someone comes at it with soul. They are the songs she heard in the aisles of supermarkets when she was a child. That’s why there is no trace of irony towards these songs. »Forever Young« in this version brings the essence of the song forward much more and more vulnerably than the original. The synthesizers on this EP thankfully do not overpower the sound, there is never a feeling that this is all artificiality. More spontaneous, more simple is what it should be. Letting go. Surrender. A little masterpiece of five songs.
Aisles
