Angelo De Augustine shares new single 'Empty Shell' and releases short film 'Can I Come Back To Earth?'
Angelo De Augustine | Photo credit: Wendy Fraser
"In the dizzying chime of his careful fingerpicking and high-pitched howls, De Augustine captures love’s bright blaze." – Pitchfork
"De Augustine's delicate vocals and instrumentals make these enormous themes feel floral and approachable." - NPR
"Few artists can quiet a room quite like Angelo De Augustine...he can make a music venue feel like a living room, demanding the audience’s full attention by simply refusing to raise his voice." – Paste
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Last month, Angelo De Augustine announced his new LP Angel in Plainclothes (out April 24th on Asthmatic Kitty). A revered songwriter, who built a cult audience before emerging into broader public consciousness with his 2019 LP Tomb and a 2021 collaborative album he made with Sufjan Stevens entitled A Beginner's Mind, De Augustine's latest album chronicles a multi-year-long journey of healing and renewal.
After collapsing and being hospitalized with an undiagnosed illness in early 2022, the Southern California-based singer/songwriter endured an arduous journey of re-learning how to walk, talk, see, hear, play music, and sing again; abilities most people take for granted. Once he was able to return to music, De Augustine wrote, recorded, arranged, produced, and mixed his fifth LP at his recording studio A Secret Place. Angel in Plainclothes also marks his first time welcoming others into his creative process for the first time in years. The end result is a reverent album. His most inspired and powerful work yet.
The album was announced with ‘Mirror Mirror,’ and today he's sharing the album's opening track. A haunting elegy, ‘Empty Shell‘ showcases Angelo's gift for pairing powerful melodies with devastating lyrical precision ("Bury the needle past marrow and bone / Relax into meadows ‘neath stars dead and gone / To cope with your loss and pay off the cost”). The first song created for the album, "Empty Shell" builds a lush and immersive sonic atmosphere with just Angelo on guitar/vocals and string arrangements by Oliver Hill (Kevin Morby, Helado Negro).
As Angelo explains: "It was the first song written of the batch that would make up the album. I don't know how to talk about a song like this in a way that wouldn't cheapen the experience of listening to it. You have to listen to understand."
To accompany the release Angelo is sharing a short film directed by Ramez Michel Silyan entitled Can I Come Back To Earth?. The film includes a live recording of ‘Empty Shell,’ alongside an original score recorded and produced by Angelo.
"I wanted to make a document of where I am now and an acknowledgement of the years of suffering I have endured. In my life I oscillate between guarding privacy and wanting to share things I have made. This little film feels like the right sized window--small enough for a glance, but large enough to leave behind, showing that at one time I existed on the earth."
Listen to 'Empty Shell' and watch the short film 'Can I Come Back To Earth?' below.
Tracklisting:
1. Empty Shell
2. Pet Cemetery
3. Spirit of The Unknown
4. The Cure
5. Mirror Mirror
6. Cosmic Ride
7. The Universe Was Our Mother
8. With a Love So Kind
9. Pictures On My Wall
10. Goodbye Baby Blue
Tour dates:
5/1/26 - Los Angeles, CA - Sid the Cat Auditorium
5/2/26 - San Francisco, CA - Swedish American Music Hall
5/5/26 - Portland, OR - Polaris Hall
5/6/26 - Seattle, WA - Triple Door
all dates w/ Hannah Frances
Angelo De Augustine online:
Instagram | Bandcamp | YouTube | Website
