angel olsen

Use of the mirror as a medium can be found throughout schools of psychology, mythology, and literature. Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan theorized a “mirror stage” in child development, when infants reach an age where they can first recognize their reflection in a mirror, thus representing the first recognition of self. Narcissus famously fell in love with himself gazing at his mirrored reflection in the waters of a spring, ultimately leading to his demise. Writer Virginia Woolf used mirrors as metaphors throughout her work, perhaps most famously in The Lady in the Looking-Glass, where she presents the mirror as both an accurate and yet inaccurate representation of truth, ending her short story with the sentence, “People should not leave looking glasses hanging in their rooms.”

Mirrors, in the most literal sense, reflect back exactly what is in front of them. Yet when we are said to “mirror” back another one’s words or ideas, we are echoing not a perfect representation, but instead our perception of that person’s words or ideas. A mirror, while a perfect reflection of outer self, can also be an inaccurate representation of a whole. A mirror necessarily provides only part truth.

Throughout her career, Angel Olsen has explored themes of self-reflection, communication, and point of view, and with All Mirrors, her fourth full-length album, not counting the Phases compilation she released in 2017, she delves more deeply into these themes as they relate to love, heartbreak, friendship, and loss. In the album’s title track, Olsen sings of watching her past repeat, anticipating the day when she will be facing the mirror that seems to reflect all.

“The title track was probably the first song I wrote for the album,” says Olsen from her home in Asheville, NC. “I really like the phrase, ‘We are all mirrors,’