Building up to the release of their much-anticipated upcoming album, Gang Of Youths have shared the new single ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’. The track is the fifth song to be released from Angel In Realtime, coming after ‘The Angel Of 8th Ave.’, ‘Unison’, ‘The Man Himself’ and ‘Tend The Garden’.
The new release features a range of contributions from guest musicians and vocalists, including backing harmonies provided by the Auckland Gospel Choir and percussion by notable drummers from the Cook Islands. Describing the motivations behind ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’, Gang Of Youths frontman, Dave Le’aupepe said: “I wanted to reflect on how I became dependent on grief for solace and inspiration.”
Opening up about the recent death of his father, Le’aupepe added: “The cycle from numbness to acceptance to yearning plays a role in my approach to grieving my dad’s death. As a result, most of the time, I feel a bit futile as a person.”
Prior to its release, Gang Of Youths teased the new single by posting a video of themselves dancing to the track alongside Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo. In a caption to the jubilant Instagram video, the band wrote: “It came easy compared to much of the record. Dave wrote the chorus walking around Copenhagen one night and everything kinda fell into place with it.” The union of Gang Of Youths and Ricciardo isn’t as random as you might expect. In late 2020, it was revealed that he had contributed both vocals and drums to the band’s new album, joining them in their London studio.
Set to drop on February 25th Angel In Realtime marks the band’s first studio offering since 2017’s Go Farther in Lightness. The upcoming record’s cover features a picture of Dave Le’aupepe’s late father, to whom the album is dedicated. “My dad was a gifted and passionate gardener. It’s where he funnelled a lot of his energy and sensitivity, and despite our humble economic status, we were always surrounded by beauty,” Le’aupepe revealed in a press statement.
Going on to explain how it was only after his death that Le’aupepe understood the true story of his father’s life, he said: “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.”
