Angel In Realtime＜Pink Vinyl＞

The third full-length from Australias ARIA Award-winning Gang of Youths, 2022s angel in realtime. is an album you wont easily forget. Largely inspired by the life of lead singer David Leaupepes 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 Leaupepe unpacks his fathers 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." Its made explicitly clear that his fathers choice to lie about his racial identity (among other things) was born out of a desire to better his familys opportunities in a world often dominated by bigotry and class prejudice. From there, Leaupepe delves into the personal trauma, tenuous familial relationships, and eventual reconciliations that came in the wake of his fathers choices. Its 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 Leaupepes rich, throaty baritone is framed by wiry bass lines, artfully arranged orchestral sections, and spiraling guitar accents. Theres a frankness to Leaupepes lyrics, as if hes 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 fathers illness, he sings, "I was a troublesome young kid/I was a big piece of sh*t/But Im 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 Leaupepe sings on "The Angel of 8th Ave.," "There is heaven in you now." ~ Matt Collar