‘Hares on the Mountain’: Angel Olsen names one of her “favourite fall records”
The days are getting shorter, the shirt sleeves are getting longer, and our playlists are getting more introspective; it is irrevocably autumn. One musician whose back catalogue lends itself to the season’s soundtrack is Angel Olsen. Her amalgamation of avant-garde, art rock, country, and folk music, brimming with gorgeous vocals and glimmering guitar licks, provides the perfect soundtrack for the transition from summer to autumn.
From the country twang of her most recent sixth LP, Big Time, harking all the way back to her Americana-influenced debut EP Strange Cacti and the raw rock of 2016’s My Woman, Olsen has always intertwined the personal and poetic in her writing. On her most recent record, Olsen navigates life after the death of her parents alongside her publicly coming out as queer. There is both sadness and joy to be found as she reflects on happy memories and looks forward to the future on the twinkly piano ballad ‘All the Good Times’ and the woozy, waltzing titular track.
Something about the crisp breeze, the crunch of the many-hued leaves underfoot, and the desire for a hot latte rather than its icy alternative seems to leave us longing for a suitably stripped-back playlist. Olsen’s wistful offerings are a welcome addition.
But while Olsen’s back catalogue provides us with some autumnal inspiration, the artist has cited Sussex-born folk revivalist Shirley Collins’ ‘Hare on the Mountain’ as an essential for the colder months. She told The Week in 2018: “One day, I anonymously received this [record] in the mail. It’s one of my favourite fall records.”
It is a minimalistic number, underscored by a gently strummed guitar, but really driven by Collins’ bewitching vocal range. The song is a traditional English folk song known by several titles, including ‘Blackbirds and Thrushes’ and ‘The Knife in the Window’. Collins popularised it in 1959, and more recently, alternative rock outfit alt-J covered it for the soundtrack of Bright.
Collins’ rendition of the song is haunting, as her vocals reach a higher register. The song’s lyrics warn of man’s animalistic nature, as Collins compares young men to hares, blackbirds, and thrushes, all of which one may expect to see preparing for hibernation throughout September and October.
Collins released a string of albums during the 1960s and 1970s, often in collaboration with her sister Dolly Collins but retreated from the spotlight in 1978 after losing her voice. She returned to the music industry in the 2010s, most recently releasing an album, Archangel Hill in 2023.
Hints of Collins’ influence shine through on early Olsen tracks such as ‘The Waiting’ and the enchanting ‘Some Things Cosmic’, which regularly sees its streaming numbers skyrocket in the autumn months, thanks to Spotify’s themed playlisting. So whether curled up on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket with a hot chocolate in hand, or embarking on a trek through the amber leaves in your local park, Olsen and Collins’ dulcet tones and luscious melodies will be sure to provide some emotional release and comfort.
