Angel Olsen @ Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 22 Oct

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Angel Olsen would be a very serious performer. Her music is introspective, often utterly sentimental, and even symphonic at times. Even the choice of venue tonight suggests grandeur. But Olsen's performance at the Usher Hall strikes a charming balance between theatricality and naturalness, making for an evening of music that is as warm as it is entertaining. 

Opening the show is another American singer-songwriter – Tomberlin, fresh from touring her second LP i don’t know who needs to hear this earlier this year. Though much of her newer material features a full band, Tomberlin is solo tonight, and nonetheless manages to command the stage and fill the Usher Hall with her ethereal vocals. Thanking us for listening, she says she knows her music is a little sombre before the rock music, to much disagreement from the enraptured audience – we cheer when she says the next song is depressing, and she calls us her people. 

We wait excitedly for Angel Olsen to come on stage, and there’s a definite feeling of loyalty in the crowd. The wide-angle photograph of the same hilly scene that adorns Big Time’s sleeve makes for a soothing and atmospheric backdrop, seeming to, with the stage lighting, pass from bright daylight to dusk to sunrise. 

Image: Angel Olsen @ Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 22 Oct by Marilena Vlachopoulou

Angel Olsen is an incredible performer, from the coolness of her stage presence to her earth-shattering vocals. She’s joined by a band which includes violin and cello, making for a rich and captivating sound. Olsen is at ease on the vast stage, moving around to interact with her bandmates and clearly feeling every word she sings. 

At one point, Olsen works through an elaborate ruse, claiming she wants to try out a new song she’d been working on that afternoon after visiting Edinburgh Castle. “It’s about kissing,” she says, “the point in a relationship where you’re only doing closed-mouth kissing.” Just when she’s got the audience sufficiently intrigued she launches into Shut Up Kiss Me (an oldie from her third album My Woman), delighting the audience.

Shut Up Kiss Me turns out to be the only song selected from the pre-All Mirrors era. Mainly comprising songs from Olsen’s newest record Big Time, the set is airy, majestic, and thoroughly enchanting – if a little disjointed. The glam rock and intense staging of All Mirrors tracks are a little at odds with the smooth Americana of Big Time, but this mainly highlights the incredible journey Olsen has taken as a songwriter. 

For the encore, Olsen returns to the stage with her full band, who launch into a cover of Harry Nilsson’s sad banger Without You. Halfway through the performance is brought to an abrupt halt, with Olsen saying “something’s missing… Tomberlin!”, who joins Olsen on stage to sing harmonies in the dramatic chorus. It’s a perfect ending, summing up the appeal of Angel Olsen’s artistry – sad, longing, fun and sentimental in equal measure.