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Sep 16, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Angel Olsen

Emile Mosseri has enlisted Angel Olsen for a cover of Bobby Vinton’s “Mr. Lonely.” It is taken from the soundtrack to Kajillionaire, the new film directed by Miranda July that Mosseri has done the score for. The film and soundtrack are both due out September 25. Listen to the “Mr. Lonely” cover below, followed by the trailer for the film (which also features the song).

When July and Mosseri were discussing music they were both into and felt could be a good fit for the film, they both suggested Olsen.

“So at Sundance, when Miranda and I started talking about making a version of ‘Mr. Lonely’ for the album, Angel’s name was at the top of the list,” Mosseri says in a press release. “We got lucky! she happened to be in LA for a week right before the pandemic hit. We built a version of the song out of the fabric of the score, and Angel came by and sang it so beautifully. It was a truly magical day.”

When July reached out to Olsen, there was little hesitation from the singer about saying yes.

“Suddenly there she was. THE MIRANDA JULY. In my text messages,” Olsen says in the press release. “She was working on songs with Emile for the upcoming film Kajillionaire, which at the time I knew nothing about. I just so happened to be in Los Angeles. So I met with them both, and we talked about cadence and we talked about life and we talked about the film. And Miranda directed me to sing the cover in the way she and Emile thought it would represent the feelings behind the film. It was a lovely experience. Later, Miranda and I went outside for a little break and we did a little improv with each other. Just us.”

The press release describes the plot of Kajillionaire as such: “Con-artists Theresa (Debra Winger) and Robert (Richard Jenkins) have spent 26 years training their only daughter, Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood), to swindle, scam, and steal at every opportunity. During a desperate, hastily conceived heist, they charm a stranger (Gina Rodriguez) into joining their next scam, only to have their entire world turned upside down.”

Mosseri also did scores for The Last Black Man in San Francisco and season 2 of Homecoming. He is also in the band Human Love. Read our recent interview with Human Love.

Olsen released a new album, Whole New Mess, in August via Jagjaguwar. Stream the album here and read our review of the album here.

Whole New Mess mainly features stripped down versions of the songs found on last year’s acclaimed All Mirrors album, but also features two new songs (“Whole New Mess” and “Waving, Smiling”). While Whole New Mess was recorded before All Mirrors, these are not demos for that album; Olsen purposefully recorded two versions of these songs, always intending to release them separately.

Previously Olsen shared its first single, title track “Whole New Mess,” via a video for it. “Whole New Mess” was one of our Songs of the Week. At the end of July, Olsen performed “Whole New Mess” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Then she shared the album’s second single, “Waving, Smiling,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week. She also shared a video of her performing the song live from Asheville’s Masonic Temple.

With the aid of audio engineer Michael Harris, Olsen went to a studio in the small town of Anacortes, Washington called The Unknown, in search of a space where, as she puts it in a press release, “vulnerability exists.” The Unknown is a former Catholic church converted by Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum and producer Nicholas Wilbur. “I hadn’t been to The Unknown, but I knew about its energy. I wanted to go sit with the material and be with it in a way that felt like a residency,” Olsen said in a previous press release. “I didn’t need a lot, since it was just me and a guitar. But I wanted someone else there to hold me accountable for trying different things.”

All Mirrors was our #1 Album of 2019. It also our Album of the Week and we previously posted a rave 9/10 review of the album.

Also, don’t forget that Olsen was on the cover of our last print issue, the My Favorite Album Issue (you can still buy a copy directly from us here).

Also read our 2016 interview with Olsen.

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