Del Judas returns in the company of Angela on his romantic and hopeful new single — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The Brooklyn country-goth enigma’s first new music in six years, the haunting and intense Angela is the long-awaited followup his nocturnal 2018 debut album Deity. Proving that what goes down must come up, it sees Del Judas (aka Charlie Schmid) moving in a slightly bigger, brighter, bolder direction. We can add ’70s Elvis Presley to the growing list of reference points for Del’s deep, darkly satisfying sound.
Schmid is a graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music, whose musical credits range from playing tympani in symphonies to churning out blastbeats in metal bands, but the launch of Del Judas in 2018 represented a reimagining of his most fundamental influences from childhood — icons of early rock ’n’ roll and country, from Johnny Cash to Roy Orbison.
Where Deity existed in a shadowy post-punk realm, Angela sees a bigger, bolder, brighter Del Judas emerging. “I would characterize the new material as the outcome of a psychic rebirth. I’ve taken a lot of time to meditate and contemplate who I want to be as a person and as an artist since the release of my last record. I was in a dark place back then, which is why Deity was such a dark record. The upcoming material has some dark undertones of course, but ultimately reveals itself as more playful and revelatory.”
Recorded by John Ried and mixed and mastered by Dustin Cicero, Angela is an instantly infectious track whose moody verses explode into an iconic chorus, calling to mind the wistful hooks of Dire Straits’ heyday, among other things. “The song is about love and loss,” says Schmid. “A snapshot in time from a summer spent upstate.”
Schmid reveals how his day job has helped guide the evolution of the Del Judas persona: “Now I sing professionally as a crooner for an entertainment company and play guitar and percussion for private events as well. That’s how I earn my living. I feel that if it wasn’t for this shift in my career, I wouldn’t have transitioned into making the music I’m making now. I’m a firm believer that you end up sounding like who you’re surrounded by, and I can say with confidence that dressing up in a gold blazer and singing the shit out of Frank Sinatra has forged a new version of me.”
A new full-length album is in the works now, promising to push even farther in this new direction. Schmid describes the new songs as “melodically dramatic, with overtones of country-western infused with the baroque pop excesses of the 1960s.”
Watch the video for Angela above, check out more from Del Judas below, and get reacquainted with him on his website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
