Gang Of Youths Warn Their New Music Won’t Sound Like Their Other Albums
Dave Le'aupepe warned fans the new material might be "divisive".
In the early hours of this morning, Gang of Youths dropped their new single, ‘The Angel of 8th Ave’.
Bolstered by an anthemic chorus, the song recalls classic Gang of Youths tracks like ‘Magnolia’ and ‘Let Me Down Easy’. Like those songs, it’s a heartfelt, ripe work of art, combining excess with quietly observed moments of human warmth.
But, according to the band, it’s also something of an anomaly — in an interview with triple j, frontman Dave Le’aupepe revealed that the rest of the new music will sound very different.
“I think we just needed people to hear something initially that was a reminder of what we were,” the singer revealed, “before we took them on this journey that could be polarising, that uses a lot more breadth of musicality and eclecticism as opposed to what we were known for about 6-7 years.”
Those sentiments were backed up by the band’s Jung Kim, who says, “We’re exploring so many different territories and sides of ourselves… we’re doing things that have never really made an appearance in Gang of Youths.”
Le’aupepe has warned that the rest of the album might even be “divisive” for longterm fans. But rather than causing concern, such sentiments should be very exciting — there’s nothing more enjoyable than watching a band take a risk, and it sounds like that’s what the future holds for Gang of Youths. Colour us excited.
Gang Of Youths Are Back — And Stronger Than Ever
Elsewhere in the same interview, Le’aupepe explained why the band have taken four years to release new music, chalking up the delay to a combination of striking life events and a kind of writer’s block.
“My dad was obviously sick and he died in 2018, there was all these transitional things and I think for us we just wanted to take it easy and learn how to live again” Le’aupepe explained. “I just needed time to set myself straight – be with my wife, hang with my family, build a life somewhere.”
As Al Newstead of triple j notes, that breather also directly influenced the new album, shaping ‘The Angel of 8th Ave’ and its theme of personal catharsis and growth. “There’s all these themes for me of learning how to be a better mate, a better band member, better family member, better husband,” Le’aupepe said of the song.
As for when the next record lands, we’re not sure — although Apple Music is currently claiming that an EP will drop in July, according to a small write-up on their playlist New Music Daily:
There’s no confirmation from the band that this is correct, at the time of writing — in the triple j interview Le’aupepe stated that a “body of work” would be coming in the next year or so. Music Junkee has followed up with Gang of Youths’ PR.