ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE - Angel In Plaincothes

It wasn't a poetic exhortation, but a cry for help, that Angelo De Augustine entrusted in 2023 to the soft melody of "I Don't Want To Live, I Don't Want To Die". Throughout the album "Toil And Trouble" you could still sense an urgent need to escape the everyday madness before having to face reality head-on. What we didn't imagine was the possibility that that record might turn out to be the American musician's final chapter - an outcome that, thankfully, never came to pass.

Rushed into emergency care and forced into a long ordeal of suffering with no answers in sight, Angelo De Augustine spent the last four years living with a debilitating illness, having to slowly relearn basic physical functions before he could resume his career. The American musician's new record is a double miracle: the first piece of good news is that Angelo De Augustine is on the road to recovery, but "Angel In Plaincothes" is also an album that transcends its own backstory, a brave and refined folk record, introspective in tone yet never self-indulgent, a tangible emotional journey from someone who rediscovered the essence of life after brushing against the cold touch of death.

Oliver Hill's string arrangements, the dark timbre of Thomas Bartlett's piano, the caress of Leng Bian's harp, and the brief appearance of Jonathan Wilson on drums in "The Cure" are key touches on a project De Augustine recorded almost entirely on his own at home, before releasing it through the label of his old friend Sufjan Stevens, Asthmatic Kitty.

"Angel In Plaincothes" is a therapeutic record, not only for its author but also for anyone who finds themselves attuned to the ethereal, poetic beauty of songs that spiritually evoke Nick Drake, Elliott Smith and Paul Simon. Not only is Angelo De Augustine's new album without doubt his absolute high point, but a song like "The Cure", a distillation of grace and poetry with the bearing of a classic evergreen, could bring him considerable visibility and make up for the moment of glory he never quite had, after the success of "Time", the track featured on the soundtrack to "A Good Person".

"Angel In Plaincothes" is the definitive consecration of a talent that was somewhat underrated before his partnership with friend Sufjan. The disorienting acid-folk of "Mirror Mirror", softened by a romantic refrain, the angelic whisper of harp and voice on "The Universe Was Our Mother", the fingerpicking of the nostalgic, raw "Pictures On My Wall", and the wonderfully successful marriage of guitar arpeggios and velvety violin on "Empty Shell" are the result of constant care in both the songwriting and the arrangements, which have never been so essential and, at the same time, so stately.

Angelo De Augustine's is a human and creative rebirth. A journey into rediscovered hope: "I waited for the end of winter and the time when spring will return" ("Spirit Of The Unknown"), at times fragile — "Mothers cry themselves to sleep for the child in you, the child in me" ("Cosmic Ride") — and one that ultimately turns to simplicity and imagination to offer a smile: "Now you smoke your stuff and look for your alcohol, hoping for silence, placating their violence, searching for the truth" ("Goodbye Bye Blue").

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

26/05/2026