Gang of Youths – Angel In Realtime (2xLP)

"Angel In Realtime" is the new studio album by Australian alternative rock band Gang of Youths.

It is already the third album of the quintet after "The Positions" (2015) and "Go Farther In Lightness" (2017), which reached the top of the charts in their home country Australia.

gang of Youths wrote and recorded 13 songs for "Angel In Realtime," which the band says is "about the life and legacy of Dave's [Le'aupepe] father, indigenous identity, death, grief and God."

As proof, they pre-released three singles, "The Man Himself," "The Angel Of 8th Ave" and "Tend The Garden." In "Tend The Garden," singer-songwriter David Le'aupepe, as is actually the case throughout the record, processes the death of his father, who died of cancer in 2018. About the song, he said, "My father was a talented and passionate gardener. He put a lot of his energy and sensibility into that, and despite our modest economic status, we were always surrounded by beauty." He goes on to say of the album, "I hope the record stands as a memorial to the man who was and remains my father, long after I myself am gone. He deserves it."

As for the music on "Angel In Realtime," it shows a new willingness to experiment on GoY's part. Some tracks feature samples of recordings of indigenous music from the Pacific Islands by English composer and ethnomusicologist David Fanshawe, who died in 2010. The band previously used these recordings on their EP "Total Serene," released in July 2021. Le'aupepe described it as part of a personal reconnection with his family's Samoan heritage. A group of Pasifika and Māori singers and musicians are therefore also featured on "Angel In Realtime."