The third full-length from Australia's ARIA Award-winning
Gang of Youths, 2022's
angel in realtime. is an album you won't easily forget. Largely inspired by the life of lead singer
David Le'aupepe's Samoan-born father, who died from cancer in 2018, the record is literate, effusive, and full of a romantic empathy for the world. At the center of the album is the spare piano ballad "Brothers," in which
Le'aupepe unpacks his father's enigmatic history. He sings, "We thought that he was only half Samoan/That his mother was a German Jew/But I went and found his birth certificate/And he lied about that too." It's made explicitly clear that his father's choice to lie about his racial identity (among other things) was born out of a desire to better his family's opportunities in a world often dominated by bigotry and class prejudice. From there,
Le'aupepe delves into the personal trauma, tenuous familial relationships, and eventual reconciliations that came in the wake of his father's choices. It's a deeply personal and autobiographical album, but one filled with a universally relatable emotionality. Tracks like "In the Wake of Your Leave," "The Angel of 8th Ave.," and "The Man Himself" are infectious anthems that smartly evoke the novelistic work of artists like
Bruce Springsteen and
Jackson Browne while also deftly drawing upon the new wave and dance-rock of bands like
U2 and
New Order. These are exquisite productions where
Le'aupepe's rich, throaty baritone is framed by wiry bass lines, artfully arranged orchestral sections, and spiraling guitar accents. There's a frankness to
Le'aupepe's lyrics, as if he's talking directly to you. Yet, even in his most earnest, off-hand moments, he finds poetry. Or, as he calls it on "Forbearance," the "cosmic ballet." Remarking on his father's illness, he sings, "I was a troublesome young kid/I was a big piece of sh*t/But I'm hoping that/The days in the hospice/Atoned for some of it." Atonement and the uplifting grace that can come with it drive all of
angel in realtime. As
Le'aupepe sings on "The Angel of 8th Ave.," "There is heaven in you now." ~ Matt Collar
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