Angel Olsen has a way of making grief feel good. She describes her music as “fresh grief, like fresh love” with a capacity to sharpen our vision by bringing about “painful clarifications.” I’ve been listening to Angel Olsen since I was 16 when I found “Shut Up Kiss Me” on my Discover Weekly. For the longest time, I thought she was saying something completely different than “Shut Up Kiss Me,” so I would just mouth the word “watermelon” over and over again as my 5th grade choir teacher told us to do if we forgot the words to “Ode to Joy.” But when I discovered that Olsen was writing lyrics much more eloquent than variations of summer fruit, I became entranced by her music.
Her new song, “Greenville,” was originally recorded by artist Lucinda Williams. Williams is a classic country rock singer who also happens to have a very folky sound. Her recording features little background instrumental support, other than what I presume to be a guitar and the lulling repetition of a snare drum. Williams’ gravely voice is complemented by the soft strum of the acoustic instruments, which paints a compelling sort of melancholy, one that only folk rock stars can create.
Olsen recorded her version of “Greenville” with Kyle Thomas a few summers ago, and was prompted to release it when she was reminded of Williams’ work at the beginning of the pandemic. Olsen claims she loves “how Lucinda Williams cuts through to the heart with a casual turn of a phrase,” and this song, both the original and the cover, does just that.
However, I also find it important to recognize how this recording is just a cover, and to me, one of the most valuable parts of a song is the ingenuity of the lyrics. If I was writing about Olsen’s other albums and singles, this point would be more clear, but because this is just a cover, it’s important to stick to feeling and the context of the cover’s release.
Olsen’s cover differs from the original, mostly because of the unique tonal quality of her voice. I find most of Olsen’s music to be very ethereal. She did a cover of “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats in 2021, and it has the same effect that her cover of “Greenville” has, a more heavenly, sweeping version of the original. In “Greenville,” the synthesizer that Men Without Hats used is not present, but the fullness of her voice creates a warmer and rounder feeling than Williams’ original cover.
I think “Greenville” is a great follow up for Olsen’s audience after her 2022 album “Big Time.” Olsen talks about this album and her venture into the country genre with Pitchfork in 2022. I think that following this album by releasing a cover is an interesting choice, and could in some situations be worthy of criticism. However, I think that the release of her “Greenville” was a smart decision. Feeding her audience more soft, classic country music that hits the heart and induces a sort of love-filled grief is the perfect way to cast her unique shadow on the country music genre.
Folk country music needs a fresh face like Olsen, a new take on the same country that classics like Lucinda Williams or Loretta Lynn once dominated. I am excited to see Olsen enter a similar space to Faye Webster, who has created a folk country sound in the indie space. I also think that folk country music is often misinterpreted when compared to modern artists like Luke Bryan or Morgan Wallen, when in reality, there is so much more to the genre, and thanks to artists like Olsen, we are getting fresh renditions of the classics we love. Olsen’s “Greenville” makes me excited to listen to a new generation of folk country music, and although I will miss her pop rock era, she herself claims that sometimes “brightness is tempered by a profound sense of loss,” which is exactly how her fresh sound and unique cover make me feel.
