GANG OF YOUTHS
ARE BACK WITH POWERFUL
NEW SINGLE
“the angel of 8th ave.”
Australian Indie-Rock act Gang Of Youths, are back with their highly anticipated new single “the angel of 8th ave.” released today, Wednesday 16th June – via Mosy Recordings/Sony Music Entertainment Australia. This single comes as the first taste of new music since the success of their 2017 album Go Farther In Lightness.
“the angel of 8th ave.” is a striking step forward for the band as they embark upon the most vital phase of their career so far. This time they’re channelling the musical lineage of their new life in the UK, drawing on the hypnotic motorik grooves of Joy Division and the luminous synths that embody classic New Order. It’s an utterly assured evolution of the ambitious, transformative music that they have become renowned for.
The song also represents a shift in Dave Le’aupepe’s lyrical approach. Now his focus falls on exposing the beauty and elegance of conversational, tell-as-it-is language in a song about the grandest of emotions. Simultaneously, it is still both poetic and intensely real. His opening words hone sharply in on a moment that changed the direction of his life, while the spectre of death conversely provides a glimpse of a brighter future.
“It’s about falling in love, and finding a new life in a new city together,” tells Dave.
Entirely self-produced, the track was recorded in their own studio in Hackney, a place which provides them with unlimited creative freedom. It was subsequently mixed by the Grammy-winning Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, The National).
Directed by Joel Barney, the song’s accompanying video was filmed in the band’s hometown of Angel, North London. The focal point is a tight close-up of Le’aupepe’s highly charismatic performance, as the band dart from the bustle of the station to the relative desolation of the canal.
Joining the outfit for the first time in recording is the multi-skilled instrumentalist, Tom Hobden. The former member of Noah and The Whale had joined Gang Of Youths as a performance member prior to COVID-19 and was announced to be officially joining the band in a letter from bassist Max Dunn in October 2020. Their current line-up is completed by Max Dunn (bass), Jung Kim (guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski (drums) and Tom Hobden (keyboards, guitar, violin).
The band had planned to have a creative reset before COVID enforced a downing of tools in early 2020. They took it as a sign for complete artistic overhaul. “I think it’s been challenging for us, this whole process, but it’s probably going to be good for our music. We’ve gone in a less safe direction and it’s going to be more in line with Dave’s actual vision, rather than Dave pumping something out to get a deadline met,” says Dunn. “We’re exploring so many different territories and sides of ourselves and that’s manifesting in the music,” adds Kim. “We’re doing things that have never really made an appearance in Gang Of Youths.”
Gang Of Youths were formed in Sydney, Australia, in 2011 by Le’aupepe and some like-minded mates. Within months of their first gig, they’d started to attract a rabid fanbase enraptured by their expansive, widescreen take on indie-rock, the music that manages to feel universal and personal at the same time. They honed this sound over two records, on 2015’s The Positions and 2017’s Go Farther In Lightness, and won four of Australia’s prestigious ARIA Awards on the back of their ARIA #1 and Platinum-selling second album . Word spread further afield too, helped by an extensive support tour in the US and Europe supporting Mumford & Sons. They relocated to London towards the end of 2017, all living in a house together in Angel, North London.
Gang Of Youths have gathered even more accomplishments, including performing on Australia’s first MTV Unplugged in 2015, holding multiple venue attendance records around Australia from the band’s 2018 “Say Yes To Life” tour, as well as being hand picked by Foo Fighters as main support for their US “Concrete And Gold” 2018 tour.
Gang Of Youths are making new music that is primed to connect with the masses, crafting songs that match the age-old anthemic thrills of rock music with a forward-thinking approach.
“the angel of 8th ave.” is available across all streaming platforms now.
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