Advertisement

Watch Angel Olsen’s binary-smashing new video for “Big Time”

"We set out to celebrate how humans identify and to subvert the old-fashioned gender binary and societal/internalised gender roles of the past," says director Kimberly Stuckwisch

Trending Now

Angel Olsen has shared a new video for the title track of her upcoming album Big Time – check it out below.

Big Time, which follows 2020’s Whole New Mess and the previous year’s All Mirrors, is set for release on June 3 via Jagjaguwar. It was announced last month with first single “All The Good Ones”.

Like “All The Good Ones”, the “Big Time” video was directed by Kimberly Stuckwisch, who said in a statement: “‘For ‘Big Time’, we set out to celebrate how humans identify and to subvert the old-fashioned gender binary and societal/internalised gender roles of the past through choreography, colour, and wardrobe. To exist outside strict definitions is powerful and often not given a place in cinema.

Advertisement

“This was our chance to hold a positive reflection in the space and to shout to the world that you are more than who you are told to be. ‘Big Time’ is what happens when we do not express our true identity but find freedom when we step out of the shadows into our most authentic selves. In the first rotation, the lighting is drab, the clothes are monochromatic, the dance is monotonous… gender-conforming roles present.

“However, with each rotation, something magical happens, both our cast and Angel begin to come alive, to feel free. We see the clothes brighten, the dance heightens, and the bar that was once devoid of emotion can barely contain the joy bursting out of each individual.

Stuckwisch added: “I am proud to say that over 80 per cent of our cast and 50 per cent of our crew identified as nonbinary and non-gender conforming.”

Watch the “Big Time” video below.

A press release notes that “Big Time” “is about the expansive power of new love, written during the time she was coming out as queer, and having her first experience of queer love and heartbreak”.

The new LP was also recorded following the death of Olsen’s parents, who the US artist came out to during the making of “Big Time”.

Advertisement

“Some experiences just make you feel as though you’re five years old, no matter how wise or adult you think you are”, she wrote of that “tearful but relieving conversation” with her parents. “Finally, at the ripe age of 34, I was free to be me.”

Olsen will head out on a UK and Ireland tour in support of Big Time in October. You can see her upcoming tour dates below, and find tickets here.

OCTOBER 2022
18 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
19 – The Forum, Bath
20 – Usher Hall, Edinburgh
21 – Albert Hall, Manchester
24 – Vicar Street, Dublin

Originally published on NME
Advertisement

Latest Issue

Advertisement

Features

Advertisement