GANG OF YOUTHS
From Down Under: The Next Great Rock Band
Australian indie-rock group Gang of Youths have announced their third studio album, angel in realtime, their first since 2017.
In a statement about the new album, the band said, “The album is about the life and legacy of Dave Le’aupepe’s father, indigenous identity, death, grief and God. And also the Angel, Islington.”
Le’aupepe is the group’s lead singer and guitar player. The rest of the band is made up of Max Dunn (bass guitar), Jung Kim (lead guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski (drums), and Tom Hobden (violin, keyboards, guitar).
The new album won’t be out until February 25, 2022, but the band is stirring up interest by releasing singles “tend the garden,” “the man himself,” “unison,” and “the angel of 8th ave.”
“tend the garden” is an uptempo rock song, with lyrics that tell the story of Le’uapepe’s father. The lyrics describe a complicated relationship between father and son, but there are small bits of tenderness shining through. “When I tend the garden, I will think of them,” Le’aupepe sings, imagining his father’s feelings about him and his siblings.
In a statement about “tend the garden,” Le’aupepe said, “My dad was a gifted and passionate gardener. It’s where he funneled a lot of his energy and sensitivity, and despite our humble surroundings, we were always surrounded by beauty. The journey he made from Samoa to NZ to Australia was a difficult and inspiring one, but also fraught with mistakes, regret and terrible choices. I like to think he was building something beautiful, and pondering what life had given him in spite of his mistakes and concealment. We never knew his story until after he died, so this is the most poetic interpretation of his affinity for gardening that I could think of.”
For those who feel like rock bands are being left in the past, Gang of Youths is proof that rock ‘n’ roll never dies.
