American singer-songwriter Angelo De Augustine experienced a serious health crisis that radically changed his life, forcing him to relearn how to walk, talk, and even sing.
But through music and his passion for rare instruments, he managed to rebuild himself.
A moment that changed everything
On Halloween 2022, in Los Angeles, he suddenly collapsed at home. The symptoms were strange and severe: he lost control of his body, had difficulty seeing, hearing, and moving. Although he underwent many tests, doctors were unable to give a clear diagnosis.
Returning home in a debilitated state, he had only one goal: to finish his album Toil and Trouble. “I thought I would finish the album and then I would die,” he recounts, describing his desperate state at the time.
A growing career – suddenly interrupted
Before his illness, Angelo De Augustine was gaining more and more attention. He had collaborated with Sufjan Stevens and released critically acclaimed albums.
His song Time became very popular after it was used in the film A Good Person, but he was too ill to capitalize on this success. As he says: “I had to completely change my life.”
The long road to recovery
After the album's release in 2023, a long period of rehabilitation began. For three years he:
learned to walk and talk again
gradually regained hearing and the ability to sing
struggled with symptoms that came and went
He returned to live with his mother, unable to perform even the most basic tasks. One of the key moments was when he realized that his symptoms disappeared when he was in the water, which helped him understand the role of high stress in his condition.
Music as therapy
A daily program of physical and mental exercise helped him gradually recover. At first, singing and playing the guitar seemed foreign to him, but over time everything began to come back.
These experiences became the inspiration for his new album Angel in Plainclothes, which reflects on:
the transience of life
identity
the feeling of loss and return
Distinctive sounds and unique instruments
The album is also notable for its use of rare and antique instruments, such as:
bowed psaltery
small harmonicas and unusual instruments
old synthesizers and traditional instruments
The search for new sounds is an important part of his artistic identity.
A new beginning
Gradually, Angelo De Augustine is returning to the stage. He has started performing again after a few years of hiatus, taking everything step by step.
Today, he feels between two worlds: partly like his former self, but also like a new man who no longer takes life for granted.
“I just want to live well,” he says. And perhaps it is precisely by not striving for perfection at all costs that his music is becoming more honest than ever. /GazetaExpress/
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