Gang of Youths – angel in realtime. (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:07:09 minutes | 744 MB | Genre: Indie Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Records
If we had to put our finger on the one thing that made locals fall in love with Sydney export Gang of Youths, it would be frontman David Le’aupepe’s unbridled honesty. From their 2015 debut album The Positions, which tackled Le’aupepe’s struggle with addiction, his first wife’s cancer diagnosis and their divorce, to 2017’s Go Farther in Lightness, which packaged up that raw emotion and turned it into stadium-ready hits, you can always rely on a Gang of Youths album to make you well up just at least once.
Their most recent release, angel in realtime, deals with an issue everyone will be familiar with at some point… the death of a loved one. angel in realtime is like a scrapbook of Le’aupepe’s father’s life as David tries to recall and process a myriad of emotions after his passing. However, it’s not all sad, there are some moments of light as with every Gang of Youths album, such as unison about the new love of the frontman’s life, or the absolute hit angel of 8th ave about the band’s new home, London.
As soon as the pin drops on you in everything, we know that we are about to be taken on a heartfelt rockopera-esque rollercoaster of reflection… “I prayed the day you passed / but the heavens didn’t listen / so we held you till your dark skin dulled to fair.”
Brutal huh?
The track brothers is a bone-bare piano ballad that walks us through Le’aupepe processing the lies he discovered after his father’s death. Instead of the usual rambling that seems to be so popular in indie rock these days, Le’aupepe uses his craftsmanship to pen a captivating and honest tale, as if we were there with him as he tells this story. Amongst the grief, tend the garden is a welcome upbeat and funky break, before we return to a classic Gang of Youths style tune, the kingdom is within you. Complete with string section and solo erhu (Chinese violin), this track is reminiscent of the first hit that made us fall in love with Gang of Youths, Magnolia (2015).
Processing love and loss through music is not uncharted waters, but what separates Gang of Youths from the pack is their charming candour. Every album they write is like a window into the lead singer’s life tinged with love and suffering… like an invitation to dinner to get to know the absolute essence of David Le’aupepe, and angel in realtime is no exception. – Jessica Porter-Langson
Tracklist:
1-1. Gang of Youths – you in everything (06:51)
1-2. Gang of Youths – in the wake of your leave (04:03)
1-3. Gang of Youths – the angel of 8th ave. (03:59)
1-4. Gang of Youths – returner (04:43)
1-5. Gang of Youths – unison (05:08)
1-6. Gang of Youths – tend the garden (04:27)
1-7. Gang of Youths – the kingdom is within you (04:23)
1-8. Gang of Youths – spirit boy (06:27)
1-9. Gang of Youths – brothers (05:54)
1-10. Gang of Youths – forbearance (05:38)
1-11. Gang of Youths – the man himself (04:24)
1-12. Gang of Youths – hand of god (04:03)
1-13. Gang of Youths – goal of the century (07:03)
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