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Angel Olsen Announces Cover EP Aisles, Shares Version of Gloria

Angel Olsen has been stunning audiences with her songwriting, guitar playing and producing abilities for over a decade. Now she is paying tribute to her favorite classics from the 1980’s.

Olsen just announced a new five-song cover EP titled Aisles will release on August 20 via her Jagjaguwar imprint somethingcosmic.

She released her version of Laura Branigan’s hit classic “Gloria” on July 8. Listen the official audio from YouTube below:

This a much different version of “Gloria” than Branigan’s original version from 1982. That take was a dance anthem that topped the charts in Australia and Canada as well as placing at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and later certified as platinum. Branigan’s hit was a huge success that was originally written in Italian by composer Umberto Tozzi.

Olsen’s release possesses a darker tone than the original, utilizing synths and a string section. It is ambitious.

Angel Olsen’s Take On The New Track Via a Press Release:

“I needed to laugh and have fun and be a little less serious about the recording process in general. I thought about completely changing some of the songs and turning them inside out. I’d come over to find Adam [McDaniel] had set up 5 or so synthesizers, and we’d get lost on a part for a while messing with some obscure pedal I knew nothing about. We’d spend a good amount of time going through sounds before finding one or two, sometimes we’d get real weird and decide to just go with it.

I’d heard ‘Gloria’ for the first time at a family Christmas gathering and was amazed at all the aunts who got up to dance. I imagined them all dancing and laughing in slow motion, and that’s when I got the idea to slow the entire song down and try it out in this way.”

The rest of the tracklist for Olsen’s Aisles 80’s cover EP is as follows:

Gloria (Laura Branigan)

Eyes Without A Face (Billy Idol)
Safety Dance (Men Without Hats)
If You Leave (OMD)

Forever Young (Alphaville)

Hearing Olsen’s “Gloria” makes fans wonder what her sound on the remaining four songs may be like.

It will be available on digital streaming services and will get a physical release on vinyl and cassette a month later on September 24. Fans can pre-order it here.

This is Olsen’s first release since she accompanied Sharon Van Etten on the hit song “Like I Used To” back in May.

Be sure to stay up to date with Angel Olsen on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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Ben Pagani

Music Projects Manager at Beyond The Stage Magazine

Ben is a music journalist living and working in Chicago. They joined Beyond The Stage as an intern and have stayed on the staff for several years. Now serving on the editorial board, Ben is proud to be BTS' Music Projects Manager, coordinating coverage between international record labels and our staff. Ben has interviewed, photographed and written about bands from across the world. Ben has lived all over the United States working in television and media. They are an Emmy Award-winning writer. Ben can be found spinning records as 'DJ Wearing Sunglasses' in clubs and basements across the US.