Another day, another incredible single from Gang of Youths. Their new album angel in realtime. is dropping on February 25th via Warner Records, and we’ve already heard a number of great tracks from the album including last month’s “tend the garden” and “the angel of 8th ave.”
Today, the band has unveiled “in the wake of your leave”, and it’s simultaneously more ambitious and charmingly accessible as anything the band has released thus far. Opening with samples from the Auckland Gospel Choir, the song is a driving piece of indie-pop that is carried by what I believe is the strongest vocal performance that lead singer Dave Le’aupepe has ever put to tape. It sounds like the best of the 2010s indie-rock boom while maintaining an incredible, vulnerable intimacy due to the song’s subject matter; like much of the record, “in the wake of your leave” deals with the loss of Le’aupepe’s father, with this song charting out the scope of emotions that he felt upon his absence. Le’aupepe shared more about the track, which you can read below:
“I wanted to reflect on how I became dependent on grief for solace and inspiration. 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.”
Watch the visualizer for the track below, and preorder angel in realtime. here.
