Toil And Trouble
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''Toil and Trouble'' is the fourth album by American musician
Angelo De Augustine Angelo De Augustine is an American musician residing in Thousand Oaks, California. He has collaborated with and opened for musician Sufjan Stevens. Early life His parents were both close to music. When he was 5 years old, his father left home. ...
. It was released on June 30, 2023, through Asthmatic Kitty.


Background

De Augustine started working on the album in 2020. He would spend the next three years working alone and trying to explore the extent of his imagination. As a result, he created a record as "mystifying as a fever dream or fairy tale". The album was written, arranged, recorded, produced and mixed entirely by the musician himself, using 27 different instruments. According to De Augustine, the album stems from "thinking about the madness of the world" at the time and "how overwhelming" it can be. He further explained that he had to detach himself from reality in order to understand it, citing a "counter-world" to gain more knowledge. The lead single "Another Universe", a "delicate indie folk" song, features a clay animation music video by Owen Summers. Picking up the concept of reality, De Augustine clarified that he was tired of it and decided to create a "safe world of his own". Released as the third single, the title-track of the album features a music video that visualizes the album cover. To the director Clara Murray, it signifies a "sorcery seemingly both wicked and holy" witnessing the birth of "mystical creatures". A song to ponder the "existence of consciousness", De Augustine begs the questions "who the mind is working for" as well as who is the person "pulling the strings and transmitting the messages".


Critical reception

Robin Murray of '' Clash'' thought the album was "another dream-like sojourn into unfettered creativity". Michael Major at ''
BroadwayWorld BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City covering Broadway, Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres ...
'' called it his "most visionary work yet", "revealing his profound capacity to alchemize pain into extraordinary beauty".


Track listing


References

{{Angelo De Augustine 2023 albums Albums produced by Angelo De Augustine Angelo De Augustine albums Asthmatic Kitty albums