Gang of Youths Release New Single “Spirit Boy”

Mar 10, 2022 musiccorners

Gang of Youths has shared the final preview of their new album, the terrifying single Spirit Boy. The band from Sydney, Australia, now based in London, returned last year with their EP Total Serene. Gang of Youths released their third studio album, Angel In Realtime, on February 25, 2022.

Spirit Boy’s single follows several previously released singles such as In The Wake Of Your Leave, The Angel Of 8th Ave., Unison, The Man Himself, and Tend The Garden in the preview of his new album.

Talking about Spirit Boy’s single in an interview, Gang Of Youths vocalist Dave Le’aupepe said: “We are fortunate to have Shane McLean, an amazing musician and Taonga Pūoro facilitator, write and perform spoken verses in Te Reo Māori. A great Māori woman performed ‘rongoā’ on me, a sacred healing practice.”

“It was a transformative experience, and I’m still not sure why. There was a time when this amazing woman looked at me and said ‘you are a wairua boy’ — wairua in Te Reo means something like ‘spirit’,” he continued.

In early January 2022, Gang of Youths continued to build hype for their next album with the release of the single In The Wake Of Your Leave. The single In The Wake Of Your Leave marks the fifth song to be released from their third album, Angel In Realtime. This song also comes after Gang of Youths released a number of singles in 2021.

The song includes many contributions made by people outside the band, including backing harmonies from the Auckland Gospel Choir, and percussion provided by a number of drummers from the Cook Islands.

In a press statement, vocalist Dave Le’aupepe said of the song: “I want to reflect on how I became dependent on grief for solace and inspiration. The cycle from numbness to acceptance to longing played a role in my approach to grieving my father’s death. As a result, most of the time, I feel a little wasted as a person.”

When they teased the song last January 2022, the band posted a video of them singing and dancing to the track accompanied by Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo.

“It came easily compared to a lot of other records. Dave wrote a chorus walking around Copenhagen one night and things kind of fit into that,” the band wrote on Instagram about the new song.

In late 2020, Daniel Ricciardo revealed that he had lent vocals and drums to the band’s new album when he joined them at the Gang f Youths studio in London, England.

Angel In Realtime marks the band’s latest album following the 2017 album Go Farther In Lightness. It was inspired by the father of late vocalist Dave Le’aupepe, whose face graces the album cover.

“My father was a gifted and passionate gardener. That’s where she channels a lot of her energy and sensitivity, and despite our modest economic status, we’ve always been surrounded by beauty,” says Dave Le’aupepe.

“The journey he took from Samoa to NZ to Australia was a difficult and inspiring journey, but also full of mistakes, regrets and terrible choices. I like to think he is building something beautiful, and to reflect on what life has given him despite his mistakes and concealment. We never knew his story until after he died, so this is the most poetic interpretation of his interest in gardening I can think of.”

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Gang of Youths is an alternative rock group from Sydney, Australia. The band consists of lead songwriters David Le’aupepe (vocals, guitar), Max Dunn (bass guitar), Jung Kim (lead guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski (drums), and Tom Hobden (violin, keyboards, guitar). Kim is Korean-American, Dunn is from New Zealand, Borzestowski is Polish-Australian, Hobden is British, and Le’aupepe is of Samoan and Austrian-Jewish descent.

They are better known for their single Let Me Down Easy which was released in 2017 and became their first top 50 single in Australia. Their debut album, The Positions, peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart in May 2015 and was nominated for several ARIA Awards.

Their second album, Go Farther In Lightness, debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in August 2017 and was nominated for eight awards at the 2017 ARIA Music Awards, winning four: “Album Of The Year”, “Best Group”, “Best Rock Album”, and “Producer of the Year” (with Adrian Breakspear for its production on the album).

Their third studio album, Angel in Realtime, was released on February 25, 2022. Following the album’s release, the band will embark on a major UK tour. It came after the band rescheduled their 2022 European date but assured fans their UK shows would go ahead. In March 2022, the Gang of Youths will tour a number of cities such as Dublin, Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, and London.