In 2023, Angelo De Augustine returned to his solo roots with the album Toil And Trouble. Now the LA-based singer-songwriter is announcing its followup, Angel In Plainclothes, out in April. The lead single "Mirror Mirror" is here.
"Usually when I make music, I’ll sit down with one instrument and write the song," De Augustine explains. "In ‘Mirror Mirror,’ I didn't stick to this principle and was messing around with the tape machine’s varispeed function — seeing what would happen if I slowed down what I’d recorded on the bowed psaltery, creating an unusual droning noise. The song came from experimenting with layering sound in a very free way and watching as the structure of a song revealed itself."
During the making of Angel In Plainclothes, the musician collapsed and was hospitalized with an undiagnosed illness in early 2022. He had to relearn how to walk, talk, see, hear, play music, and sing. About the process, he says:
When I made Toil And Trouble I was in a really bad state, having just been released from the hospital and only about halfway through the recording of the album. I had accepted that I was going to die and that I should do all I could to finish the record. I didn't believe that I was going to survive the illness, let alone ever make music again. The experience unfortunately broke me and everything that I thought that I knew or could count on. With this new record, I’m trying to pick up the pieces of who I was and figure out who I am now. I am on a journey where I feel like I may have been given a second chance at life, and I’d like to live it.
Hear "Mirror Mirror" below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Empty Shell"
02 "Pet Cemetery"
03 "Spirit Of The Unknown"
04 "The Cure"
05 "Mirror Mirror"
06 "Cosmic Ride"
07 "The Universe Was Our Mother"
08 "With A Love So Kind"
09 "Pictures On My Wall"
10 "Goodbye Baby Blue"
TOUR DATES:
05/01 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sid the Cat Auditorium
5/02 – San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Music Hall
5/05 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
5/06 – Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
w/ Hannah Frances
Angel In Plainclothes is out 4/24 via Asthmatic Kitty. Pre-order it here.
