Review: David August - D’Angelo
On his third album, David August has delivered one of 2018’s most affecting releases…
The best artist albums can invoke a whole new world to the listener, almost like a painter visualising a picture but instead of colours the producer wields tracks to form a sort of audio gestalt. On ‘D’Angelo’, David August has achieved this in the most eloquent of ways. It’s a vivid, tempered release that should receive many different interpretations form those willing to dive deep into it.
For August, this means delving into his Italian roots, re-visiting old Italian villages for inspiration, and unpacking the mythologies that make up that culture. For this writer: I see the vast open space of the Arizona desert, hues of yellow and red being washed away by rains emanating from wicked and dark weather systems, a dystopian western where the protagonist is looking for redemption.
Across seven tracks August effectively showcases his impressive musicianship: sax, harpsichord (if it’s not it sure sounds like one), organs and guitars are all dusted off to sit alongside the gentle hum and crackle of various electronic sounds. Adding to the drama is his judicious use of reverb, it permeates every note and hit which adds acres of space to each track. This gives the LP an almost shoegaze sheen, and across the majority of the release August creates that scene’s flair for the epic, ranging from tight jams to ambient interludes into subtle electronics - sometimes in the space of one track. There really is much drama to be found here.
On the self-titled single, the mournful ’D’Angelo’, the start feels distant, almost like your next door neighbour is playing music which is slowly seeping through your walls. The snare hit feels like it is being softly played on layers of wet cardboard, and a quadrophonic glaze hangs over August’s vocals. A crescendo of organs and reverb builds towards what sounds like a Fender Rhodes Piano (the same instrument favoured by The Doors’ Ray Manzarek) which really adds an almost psychedelic energy to it all. An easy line to draw here would be comparisons with Nicolas Jaar and Darkside, but that would be lazy as David August's delivery feels way more honest.
Taking its cues from the mythology of Narcissus, opener ‘Narciso’ is a sad reflection from August on humanity’s egotistical nature, the music suitably despondent: choral choirs lead a tension-filled start with August lamenting ‘With a mirror on their wall, this is how they fall’. Later on, he introduces a subfusc kick which doubles up as a heartbeat pulse, a sound which could cleverly serve as a metaphor for mankind’s fragility. Ghostly voices swirl before a lone guitar plucks solemnly towards a slow yet thrusting beat, it’s very dark edges lined by a bright organ. Yet, in spite all of that, the way August spins the chorus almost turns this into something more uplifting.
The poppy ‘33chants’ sounds dusty and old, almost like it was just uncovered from an old seventies studio, a nice memory which feels familiar and warm. This is a theme he returns to on ‘True Heart’, the album closer designed to leave the listener on a happy high, and comes complete with background vocals ‘whoo’-ing their way around August’s sultry delivery. It sounds like he could be serenading the love of his life.
You don't need David August to tell you that ‘Life of Merisi’ is the album centrepiece. It is a swirling 9 minute epic that is one part ambient and one part of deep tech, the only track from the album you might possibly hear on the dancefloor. The first half is soaked in an ominous 4/4 beat with August presumably telling the story of Merisi da Caravaggio (the Italian painter who is another album inspiration for August), but then halfway through the beat fades out into an ambient passage where a drunk saxophone lightens proceedings. The sax here sounds more like an affected harmonica being played by a forlorn gold digger, and the subtle background electronics comes off sounding more like rain which only adds to the western drama.