Gang of Youths today announce their biggest tour of the UK including London’s O2 Academy Brixton to launch their upcoming album ‘angel in realtime.’ which is out on February 25th through Warner Records. The news comes as they prepare to support Sam Fender on his arena tour around the UK and play their own instantly sold-out club shows.
Gang of Youths say, “The album is about the life and legacy of Dave’s father, indigenous identity, death, grief and God. And also the Angel, Islington.”
Despite and indeed because of frontman Dave Le’aupepe’s father’s absence, his influence permeates every talking point that the album offers. At times it’s solely focused upon the precise, personal experiences of loss: the dichotomy of intensity and peace that comes as someone passes through their final days; the overwhelming feeling in the wake of their death that life will never be the same, even if the rest of the world at large remains utterly unchanged.
Following their recent singles, ‘the angel of 8th ave.’, telling of falling in love in a new city and making a home in another, and ‘the man himself’, a song created around a sample recording from the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands that is about living without the guiding hand of your own father, today they release ‘tend the garden’.
Although the album is eclectic – influences range from American minimalism and contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain’s alternative/indie scenes, from drum ‘n’ bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop — it’s equally rooted in Le’aupepe’s Samoan heritage, with the majority of tracks featuring samples from David Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South Pacific. ‘angel in realtime.’ also features contributions from a cast of talented Pasifika and Māori vocalists and instrumentalists.
Le’aupepe says, “I hope the record stands as a monument to the man my father was and remains long after I’m gone myself. He deserved it.”
‘angel in realtime.’ will be released on digital, double white vinyl and CD and is now available to pre-order here. Fans who pre-order the album will receive instant downloads of ‘tend the garden’, ‘the man himself’, ‘unison’ and ‘the angel of 8th ave.’. HMV and select independent stores will offer a special edition of the vinyl which features an alternate cover.
Fans who pre-order the album will receive access to a pre-sale for the band’s 2022 UK and European tour. The pre-sale will open at 9am local time on Wednesday, November 17th, and will remain live until remaining tickets go on general sale here from 9am local time on Friday, November 19th.
UK and European ‘angel in realtime.’ tour dates:
MARCH 2022
3rd – Ireland, Dublin, Button Factory
5th – UK, Newcastle, Riverside
6th – UK, Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom
8th – UK, Leeds, Beckett University
9th – UK, Bristol, O2 Academy
12th – UK, Birmingham, O2 Institute 2
13th – UK, Manchester, Albert Hall
15th – UK, London, O2 Academy Brixton
