Album Review: Angelo De Augustine, Angel in Plainclothes

Early in 2022, Angelo De Augustine collapsed and was hospitalised with a mysterious, undiagnosed illness that meant he had to learn how to walk, talk, see, hear, and play music again. “I feel like I may have been given a second chance at life, and I’d like to live it,” he says now. Angel In Plainclothes is De Augustine’s response to and reflection on his recovery.

The Californian singer brought in a host of collaborators for the first time in years, including producer Thomas Bartlett (The Gloaming), who he worked with before, as well as Jonathan Wilson, harpist Leng Bian (‘The Universe Was Our Mother’), background vocalist and percussionist Wendy Fraser, and string arranger Oliver Hill.

The result is a tender and beautiful album that explores the fragility of life, the pain of loss and ultimately, embraces a sense of hope. The confessional whisper of ‘Cosmic Ride’ has echoes of De Augustine’s pal and longtime collaborator, Sufjan Stevens, whose spirit ghosts through more than a few of these tracks.

Heartbreaking opener ‘Empty Shell’ is fresh with grief (“You’re still alive in my mind”); ‘Mirror Mirror’ is laidback, semi-orchestral folk; and the suberb ‘The Cure’ veers from whispered verses to a quietly catchy chorus featuring Jonathan Wilson on drums.

Elsewhere, ‘Pictures On My Wall’ channels Simon & Garfunkel, the string-soaked ‘Spirit Of The Unknown’ echoes Roy Orbison’s U2-penned ‘She’s A Mystery To Me’ – De Augustine’s voice almost cracking as he reaches for the high falsetto – and ‘Goodbye Baby Blue’ doffs its cap to the Dylan classic.

Listening to this album is mindfulness in musical form, like taking a 35-minute, meditative break from the frantic whirl of everyday life. And breathe…

• Out now.