"I didn't believe I'd make music again": Angelo De Augustine details new album Angel in Plainclothes, his first since hospitalisation

The Southern California-based songwriter spent much of the last three years recovering after collapsing and being hospitalised, a period that required him to relearn basic functions including walking, talking and playing music. The experience forms the backdrop to the new record, which was written, recorded and produced at his home studio A Secret Place with collaborators including Jonathan Wilson and Thomas Bartlett.

De Augustine describes the period immediately following his hospital release as particularly difficult, noting that work on his last album – 2023's Toil and Trouble – was completed while he was still unwell. "I had accepted that I was going to die and that I should do all I could to finish the record," he says. "I didn't believe that I was going to survive the illness, let alone ever make music again. I hope these songs end up having the same kind of effect on people out in the world, and help them know that miracles are possible."

For the first time in several years, De Augustine brought outside musicians into his creative process, with contributions from harpist Leng Bian, percussionist Wendy Fraser, and regular collaborator Thomas Bartlett, who produced De Augustine's 2019 breakthrough Tomb and has worked with St Vincent and Bebel Gilberto. String arranger Oliver Hill, whose credits include Kevin Morby and Helado Negro, also appears on the record.

"I had to prioritise my health, which meant being easier on myself and allowing other musicians in to help lighten the load," De Augustine explains.

One track, "The Cure", was co-produced with singer/songwriter and Father John Misty collaboratorJonathan Wilson, who also plays drums on the track, which De Augustine describes as exploring parallels between chronic illness and addiction.

Lead single "Mirror Mirror" layers bowed psaltery with electric guitars and manipulated tape machine effects. "I 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," he says. "The song came from experimenting with layering sound in a very free way."

Since completing the album, De Augustine has continued his recovery, including a period spent in Hawaii that yielded the record's cover photograph. He's also returned to live performance, playing his first full-band show in LA late last year and future concerts are planned with rotating lineups: "Completely different musicians and different instrumentation, depending on whatever I feel like at the moment," he says.

Angel in Plainclothes artwork

Angel in Plainclothes tracklist

“Empty Shell”
“Pet Cemetery”
“Spirit of The Unknown”
“The Cure”
“Mirror Mirror”
“Cosmic Ride”
“The Universe Was Our Mother”
“With a Love So Kind”
“Pictures On My Wall”
“Goodbye Baby Blue”