Gang Of Youths have announced the release of their highly anticipated third album, ‘Angel In Realtime’.
Due out on February 25, the new LP will be the band’s first full-length project in almost five years, following 2017’s ‘Go Farther In Lightness’.
The album’s announcement comes with the release of new single ‘Tend The Garden’, a huge tonal change from their recent work, following a lighter, summery route.
‘Tend The Garden’ is the fourth preview to be shared from the band’s new album. It follows on from lead single ‘The Angel Of 8th Ave.’, and subsequent releases ‘Unison’ and ‘The Man Himself’.
You can listen to ‘Tend The Garden’ below:
Describing it, frontman Dave Le’aupepe said it was inspired by his father, as is much of the album; his father’s face adorns the album’s artwork.
“My dad was a gifted and passionate gardener. It’s where he funnelled a lot of his energy and sensitivity, and despite our humble economic status, we were always surrounded by beauty,” Le’aupepe said in a press release.
“The journey he made from Samoa to NZ to Australia was a difficult and inspiring one, but also fraught with mistakes, regret and terrible choices. I like to think he was building something beautiful, and pondering what life had given him in spite of his mistakes and concealment. We never knew his story until after he died, so this is the most poetic interpretation of his affinity for gardening that I could think of.”
The band as a whole went on to say that the album is also about “Indigenous identity, death, grief and God. And also the Angel, Islington.”
View the album’s artwork and track listing below:
‘Angel In Realtime’ tracklist:
01. ‘You In Everything’
02. ‘In The Wake Of Your Leave’
03. ‘The Angel Of 8th Ave.’
04. ‘Returner’
05. ‘Unison’
06. ‘Tend The Garden’
07. ‘The Kingdom Is Within You’
08. ‘Spirit Boy’
09. ‘Brothers’
10. ‘Forbearance’
11. ‘The Man Himself’
12. ‘Hand Of God’
13. ‘Goal Of The Century’
Gang Of Youths have also announced a homecoming tour, where they’ll play a string of dates around Australia and New Zealand. The tour will begin in Perth on July 30, before playing Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart in August.
The band will then head to New Zealand for shows in Wellington and Auckland, before coming back to Australia for a final show in Brisbane.
Tickets for all dates of the tour will go on sale at 9am local time next Friday (November 19). Australian fans will be able to access a Telstra Plus pre-sale from 3pm local time on Tuesday (November 16), while New Zealand fans can grab tickets from the Handsome Tours pre-sale at 3pm local time next Thursday (November 18).
Gang Of Youths’ 2022 Australia and New Zealand tour dates are:
JULY
30 – Perth, RAC Arena
AUGUST
03 – Adelaide, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
06 – Sydney, Qudos Bank Arena
12 – Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
14 – Hobart, Venue TBD
16 – Wellington, Hunter Lounge
17 – Auckland, Powerstation
20 – Brisbane, Venue TBD