“And when my old man was near to the end/you loved his broken body in thе same way that I did” oh my god
'It's the only song that sounds anything like we used to' Dave Le'aupepe on Gang Of Youths' comeback The new music sounds very, very different As a comeback single, ‘The Angel of 8th Ave’ rings like a natural evolution of what Gang of Youths did on Go Farther In Lightness and 2015 debut album The Positions. But don’t get too comfortable, because what comes next might really surprise you. Le’aupepe confirms a new body of work is coming “at some point in the next year or so” and will sound “extremely different or could potentially polarise people.” He wouldn’t give away much, but did say the single is “about as close to what people would have Gang of Youths as in 2017, when we did our last anything…
I don't mind a one-off single and didn't know what to expect from this at all...but teasing it like a week ahead and doing an album art reveal for it is a little much.
I mean, the band needs to test the waters and gather fan reactions. It’s been four years since Go Farther and we all know how quickly mainstream music listeners lose interest in any artist who’s “taking too long” to release the follow-up to an extremely successful record. I personally love a campaign like this - a phone number, some teasing online before releasing the single - and believe that this is only the beginning. GoY won’t be the only band waiting to release an album later this year or in 2022. The necessity of touring will present itself and if they want a huge homecoming tour, there’s no way that will happen until the Australian federal government loosens the two-week quarantine requirement and open up international travel to anyone who’s fully vaccinated. The album will come when they’re ready - maybe they’re still finalising the press campaign, vinyl distribution, music videos, tour dates, etc. and all the hype will be worth it.
Bands love to talk about new records and how different they are, but I think generally if you make a good record real fans will be there. These guys have proven they make good music. It is neat that the wanted to make one more song to please fans an wrap up an era in way, but fans usually have diverse tastes so what they do next may be something familiar to fans. I guess we’ll see, but I am looking forward to a new Gang of Youths record and will be listening to Angel way too much in the following weeks, months and years.
oh yeah, every body of work (even the Let Me Be Clear EP) this band has released has been absolutely stunning, I have absolute faith they'll hit us with another classic
they also love to do this and then release a record that was not all that different than before so I'll believe it when I hear it
I change my mind, song is absolutely incredible. Really feels like a perfect sendoff of an era, joyous in ushering in a new sound it’s not so much the sound of the band, but as long as the band is able to capture the same feelings…the cathartic release and optimistic outlook after a period of personal turmoil, I could care less what it sounds like.
album does the gaslight anthem’s sound better than that band ever did, while also expanding to sounds beyond anyone in that scene
I just realized Frank Turner had been talking about a new album, released a song, but then it was just a single and said the album would come in 2022. Same thing sort of for GoY. Just ready for a new album from both.
That cover of Blood needed a proper recording for the Go era. I’ve been listening to Angel a lot and it’s be great if it could be part of a 3-5 song EP. that’d ease the bridge of time to finish an album even more than a single. Plus they could introduce one song with the new style on the EP to prepare fans, plus covers tend to go over well. Their All My Friends cover is also pretty awesome.
Single is great and I’m really looking forward to whatever they release. Is anything before Go Farther worth digging into? I kinda skim those songs every once and a while and it kinda seems that they didn’t really hit their sound until the most recent album (maybe excluding Magnolia).