{"id":2101931,"date":"2026-08-19T19:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T16:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2101931"},"modified":"2026-08-19T19:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T16:09:20","slug":"gang-of-youths-talk-easing-into-a-new-era-on-things-take-time-it-felt-like-a-proper-break-with-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2101931","title":{"rendered":"Gang of Youths talk easing into a new era on \u2018Things Take Time\u2019: \u201cIt felt like a proper break with the past\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gang_of_youths_2026_1.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"template-id-2749694\" class=\"post-2749694 tdb_templates type-tdb_templates status-publish post\">\n<div id=\"tdi_65\" class=\"tdc-zone\">\n<div class=\"tdc_zone tdi_66  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div id=\"tdi_67\" class=\"tdc-row stretch_row_1400 td-stretch-content\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_68  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_70  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_breadcrumbs tdi_71 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 tdb-breadcrumbs \" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_71\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span>News<\/span><span>Music News<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_title tdi_72 tdb-single-title td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_72\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Gang of Youths talk easing into a new era on \u2018Things Take Time\u2019: \u201cIt felt like a proper break with the past\u201d<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_subtitle tdi_73 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_73\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>Frontman David Le\u2019aupepe told NME about his band\u2019s obsession with death and rebirth, why an arena-sized return was never on the cards, and what to expect from the open-hearted rockers next<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_author tdi_75 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_75\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span> David James Young<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_date tdi_76 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_76\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2026-08-19T20:09:20+01:00\">19th August 2026<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdi_77\" class=\"tdc-row stretch_row_1400 td-stretch-content\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_78  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_80  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span8\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_featured_image tdi_81 tdb-content-horiz-left td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_81\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"696\" height=\"442\" class=\"entry-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gang_of_youths_2026_1-696x442.jpg\" alt=\"Gang Of Youths, 2026. Credit: Cal McIntyre\" title=\"Gang Of Youths, 2026. Credit: Cal McIntyre\"><figcaption class=\"tdb-caption-text\">Gang Of Youths, 2026. Credit: Cal McIntyre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vc_row_inner tdi_83 article-content-row vc_row vc_inner wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column_inner tdi_85  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-inner-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_86 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_86\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>Gang of Youths frontman David Le\u2019aupepe has spoken to<em> NME<\/em> about the band\u2019s first new single in four years \u2018Things Take Time\u2019 and the \u201cphilosophical freedom\u201d that has come with writing new material for the band\u2019s long-awaited fourth studio album.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>READ MORE: Gang Of Youths on the cover: \u201cEvery artist should be able to tell the the story of their culture and their history\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The single marks the band\u2019s first new original material since their acclaimed 2022 album \u2018Angel In Realtime.\u2019, and marks a significant change of pace. Rather than returning to the maximalist, big-swinging indie-rock that has shaped their previous albums, \u2018Things Take Time\u2019 opts for a refined and jazzy groove that swings atop sparse piano chords and stabs of horns.<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad0 id_ad_content-horiz-center\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<p>As far as comeback singles go, it\u2019s about as subtle and discreet as possible \u2013 as if it\u2019s entering through a side door rather than kicking the front gate open. As Le\u2019aupepe revealed, this has very much been done by design.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gang of Youths - Things Take Time (Official Audio)\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tGQGZQMnil8?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>\u201cWhen I wrote this song, I didn\u2019t want too much weighing it down,\u201d the frontman said, speaking to <em>NME<\/em> while visiting Sydney ahead of performing two sold-out shows at the famed Opera House. \u201cI wanted the song to feel speedy and light, and we wanted that really groovy and flowing nature to shine through a little bit more. It felt really good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Angel In Realtime.\u2019 was given four stars by <em>NME<\/em> upon its 2022 release, and described as \u201ca triumphant exploration of love and life\u201d. It led to the biggest shows of the band\u2019s career, including their first-ever headlining arena shows in their native Australia and selling out Brixton Academy in the UK. After a final show in support of the record at British Summer Time with Lana Del Rey, however, Gang of Youths effectively went dark \u2013 save for the late 2023 release of \u2018Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas\u2019 for the festive season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all live quiet lives,\u201d Le\u2019aupepe told <em>NME.<\/em> \u201cWe don\u2019t have our own social media, or anything like that. We\u2019re not interested in the public stuff, and I tend to require a lot of respite from the world. Having said that, we\u2019re all kind of ready for it again now. It\u2019s weirdly exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad1 id_ad_content-horiz-center\">\n<h5 class=\"taboola-mid-article-title\">Recommended<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3963720\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3963720\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3963720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gang_of_youths_2026_2.jpg\" alt=\"Gang Of Youths, 2026. Credit: Cal McIntyre\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3963720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gang Of Youths, 2026. Credit: Cal McIntyre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Check out the full interview with Le\u2019aupepe below, where he discussed the differences between observational and emotive songwriting, the ongoing struggle with perfectionism and why Gang of Youths continually has to die in order to be reborn again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NME: Hello Dave. Of all the new material the band has been working on, why was \u2018Things Take Time\u2019 chosen as the first single?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>David Le\u2019aupepe:<\/strong> \u201cWell, the powers that be chose it \u2013 probably because it\u2019s the shortest one! It\u2019s a three-minute song, which is miraculous for a band like ours. It\u2019s also a pop song, which is a form I\u2019ve not really dabbled in much. It was a really liberating song to write \u2013 I\u2019ve used that word so many times in interviews in the past, but in this instance it really set me free in a sense. I\u2019m actually singing for once, too. I\u2019ve done a lot of talking that happens to be in tune, or these grandiose fucking yells, but I haven\u2019t really allowed my voice to be free like this before.<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad2 id_ad_content-horiz-center\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things I really like about the song is that, when it was finished and we listened back to it, it felt like a proper break with the past \u2013 and we were OK with that. We\u2019ve achieved great things in the past, and we\u2019re proud of it, but this is the thread we\u2019re following now musically. I was delighted by that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>What place did the song come from in a lyrical sense?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about nothing\u2026 Well, not nothing. It\u2019s about growing plants. My wife ordered too many tomato seeds, so she went to work growing all of these tomatoes in our house. I go over to record with Tom [Hobden, Gang of Youths\u2019 multi-instrumentalist] at his home studio, and that overlooks his back garden. His wife Emma grows all these beautiful plants in the yard. It got me fascinated with the cycle of growth and death, and being baffled that people can grow things without killing them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s funny\u2026 I feel like death and rebirth are a constant part of our subject matter. We\u2019re always dealing with them in one way or another, so it\u2019s kind of weird that we almost accidentally continued it \u2013 even though the song is so different for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3184632\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3184632\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3184632\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/gang_of_youths_brixton_2.jpg\" alt=\"Gang of Youths perform at O2 Academy Brixton on March 15, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako\/WireImage)\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3184632\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gang of Youths perform at O2 Academy Brixton on March 15, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>How naturally did the musical change of pace come to you? There\u2019s fittingly a bit of a parallel with a song like \u2018Tend the Garden\u2019, but even that feels a lot bigger and more layered in comparison to \u2018Things Take Time\u2019\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI came in with the idea one night after dinner, and played the little riff. Recorded it, played a drum part, recorded that, got Donnie [Borzestowski, Gang of Youths\u2019 drummer] to redo it, and voil\u00e0. You hear all of us at work on this song. When Tom heard my little \u2018<em>doo doo doo<\/em>\u2019 in the verse, it was his idea to chuck in a horn arrangement to replicate them. Donnie is a world-class drummer, and doing something a bit jazzier was right in his repertoire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs for Jung [Kim, Gang of Youths\u2019 guitarist\/keyboardist], he always has such a deft hand. He\u2019s always so careful, and so organised with his thoughts. I think that\u2019s why it was funny when I finally sent in my vocal take \u2013 after doing like 400 takes, he was just like, \u2018Fuck it, I don\u2019t really need to worry about it\u2019. Nothing came easily, but everything just made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Everything went into radio silence after \u2018Angel in Realtime.\u2019 Was there ever a period between that cycle ending and the new one beginning where you genuinely thought Gang of Youths was over?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course. That happens after every album we\u2019ve made. I sit there at the end saying \u2018I\u2019m done\u2019, and then enough time passes and I\u2019m up like Leo [DiCaprio] in <em>The Wolf of Wall Street:<\/em>\u00a0\u2018I\u2019m not fucking leaving!\u2019 Out of all of the cycles, \u2018Angel\u2019 was definitely the hardest. I love that album, I really do; I think it\u2019s my best songwriting, but it was this whole family odyssey. The arena thing was so weird, too. We\u2019re an indie rock band \u2013 we never set out to play in stadiums, especially when you look at how scrappy we were when the band started. It was just the nature of things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we came back trying to be an arena-rock band? Snoozy as fuck. We\u2019re not in that place anymore. Those songs from \u2018Angel\u2019 are everyone else\u2019s now. They don\u2019t really play a role in my day-to-day life, or my inner world. What \u2018Things Take Time\u2019 represents is a philosophical freedom from having to write about personal shit. I had to break this cycle of feeling like I have to make opuses that dig into the underbelly of my life every single time. I could just write songs with their own meaning, that are curious and spiritual without having to directly cost me something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was it a process of realising a song could still be reflective of you without having to be very hyper-literally about you, the way a song like \u2018Brothers\u2019 was?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe writing now is less and less about trying to find things within myself to deal with, and more and more about things that I notice and that I contemplate. The new songs are, more often than not, about something I\u2019ve observed rather than something I\u2019ve felt. They\u2019re about the external. There\u2019s another new song we played, \u2018YeYu\u2019, and that\u2019s probably the only really personal song out of all of them. That\u2019s a real point of difference for a songwriter like me.\u201d<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gang of Youths - the angel of 8th ave. | NME Home Sessions\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6TIs-pGToHU?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><strong>As you just mentioned, you played your first show in three years earlier this month at a small theatre 90 minutes south of Sydney, with three new songs on the setlist \u2013 including \u2018Things Take Time\u2019. What did performing on stage again mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cLoads. It renewed something in me. There was a real warmth and affection there \u2013 you always get that with regional audiences in beautiful theatres. I knew some people who were in the front row, and who said hi afterwards. People have gotten married since they last saw us, or had kids since they last saw us. It was nice to see a lot of those familiar faces, and to see how they\u2019re existing and how life is for them now. Hell, it was just nice to see people again. Sometimes, the boredom and the monotony of playing live and touring can wear down on even the most dedicated road dog. We all felt that at the end of the last tour, so there were some nerves in coming back to it. As soon as we stepped out on stage, though, it was like, \u2018this is what it\u2019s all about. This is the point of it all\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>That show felt like a lot of the older material was being reinvented through the lens of the new stuff. You played \u2018Magnolia\u2019 solo on electric guitar, and \u2018Let Me Down Easy\u2019 was pared back in a really subtle way. Can we expect Gang of Youths\u2019 shows to play out a little differently now that it\u2019s no longer a confetti-cannon arena rock show?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven\u2019t even figured that out yet. This was our first foray into really doing it again, you know? The album that we\u2019re working on has more of a sense of just plugging in and playing \u2013 a lot of bare elements of piano, bass, drums, vocals. We want these songs to stand out by themselves, as opposed to needing loads of backing tracks running in order for them to work. That factored into the live show \u2013 could we reinvent these songs in a way that makes sense to us? It was about striking a middle ground between giving people familiarity and us not dying of boredom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is the new album done?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cNah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>How will you know when it\u2019s done?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen someone tells me it\u2019s not the worst thing I\u2019ve ever made! With [debut album, 2015\u2019s] \u2018The Positions\u2019, I had no clue what I was doing. I just knew we had a deadline to turn everything in. With [second album, 2017\u2019s] \u2018Go Farther in Lightness\u2019, I was totally sure about every aspect of that album before we turned it in. All I really know about this one, so far, is that when I got back the masters for \u2018Things Take Time\u2019, it felt like I was closer to the end of the album than I was to the beginning. I\u2019ve always cooked the goose too long, I think, and now it\u2019s a process of learning not to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2018Things Take Time\u2019 is out now. Gang of Youths will perform at All Points East in London\u2019s Hyde Park with Twenty One Pilots on August 30 before a run of UK and European shows in November and December. Visit here for tickets and more information.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_tags tdi_87 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_87\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<ul class=\"tdb-tags\">\n<li><span>Related Topics<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Gang Of Youths<\/li>\n<li>Indie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper td_block_wrap vc_raw_html tdi_89 \">\n<div class=\"td-fix-index\">\n<h3>You May Also Like<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_91  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span4 td-is-sticky\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td-a-rec td-a-rec-id-sidebar  tdi_92 td_block_template_2\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap td_flex_block_1 tdi_93 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 tdc-no-posts td_flex_block\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_93\">\n<div class=\"td-block-title-wrap\">\n<h4 class=\"td-block-title\"><span class=\"td-pulldown-size\">TRENDING<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdi_93\" class=\"td_block_inner td-mc1-wrap\">\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Grimes\u2019 Hatsune Miku collaboration is filled with love: \u201cI feel really in awe of her, but also protective of her\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Fontaines D.C.\u2018s \u2018Marianne\u2019 sets a bold new cinematic scene in their search for escape<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Hayden Panettiere\u2019s \u2018Heroes\u2019 character Claire Bennet is an underrated sci-fi icon<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Akriila throws open the doors to her gloriously messy musical multiverse<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">How \u2018Diablo\u2019 continues to provide the definitive dark-fantasy game soundtrack<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td-a-rec td-a-rec-id-custom_ad_1  tdi_94 td_block_template_2\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdi_95\" class=\"tdc-row stretch_row_1400 td-stretch-content\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_96  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_98  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vc_row_inner tdi_100  vc_row vc_inner wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column_inner tdi_102  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-inner-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper td_block_wrap vc_raw_html tdi_104 \">\n<div class=\"td-fix-index\">\n<h3>More Stories<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap td_flex_block_1 tdi_105 td-pb-border-top td_module_flex_1--card td_module_flex_1--card--highlight td_block_template_2 tdc-no-posts td_flex_block\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_105\">\n<div id=\"tdi_105\" class=\"td_block_inner td-mc1-wrap\">\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Wolf Alice complete run of \u2018The Clearing\u2019 B-sides with the folksy \u2018Hit The Sky\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">\u2018A Very Laufey Day\u2019 returns for 2026 with worldwide events<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Geese\u2019s Cameron Winter announces \u2018Live At Carnegie Hall\u2019 album<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Phoebe Bridgers cancels intimate UK album shows due to illness<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Beck soars \u201chigh as the sun\u201d on ethereal new single \u2018Disappearing Act\u2019\u00a0<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Reading &amp; Leeds 2026: check out the early weather forecast<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"td-page-meta\"><\/span><span class=\"td-page-meta\"><span class=\"td-page-meta\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"td-page-meta\"><\/span><\/article>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_86 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_86\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>Gang of Youths frontman David Le\u2019aupepe has spoken to<em> NME<\/em> about the band\u2019s first new single in four years \u2018Things Take Time\u2019 and the \u201cphilosophical freedom\u201d that has come with writing new material for the band\u2019s long-awaited fourth studio album.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>READ MORE: Gang Of Youths on the cover: \u201cEvery artist should be able to tell the the story of their culture and their history\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The single marks the band\u2019s first new original material since their acclaimed 2022 album \u2018Angel In Realtime.\u2019, and marks a significant change of pace. Rather than returning to the maximalist, big-swinging indie-rock that has shaped their previous albums, \u2018Things Take Time\u2019 opts for a refined and jazzy groove that swings atop sparse piano chords and stabs of horns.<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad0 id_ad_content-horiz-center\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<p>As far as comeback singles go, it\u2019s about as subtle and discreet as possible \u2013 as if it\u2019s entering through a side door rather than kicking the front gate open. As Le\u2019aupepe revealed, this has very much been done by design.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gang of Youths - Things Take Time (Official Audio)\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tGQGZQMnil8?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>\u201cWhen I wrote this song, I didn\u2019t want too much weighing it down,\u201d the frontman said, speaking to <em>NME<\/em> while visiting Sydney ahead of performing two sold-out shows at the famed Opera House. \u201cI wanted the song to feel speedy and light, and we wanted that really groovy and flowing nature to shine through a little bit more. It felt really good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Angel In Realtime.\u2019 was given four stars by <em>NME<\/em> upon its 2022 release, and described as \u201ca triumphant exploration of love and life\u201d. It led to the biggest shows of the band\u2019s career, including their first-ever headlining arena shows in their native Australia and selling out Brixton Academy in the UK. After a final show in support of the record at British Summer Time with Lana Del Rey, however, Gang of Youths effectively went dark \u2013 save for the late 2023 release of \u2018Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas\u2019 for the festive season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all live quiet lives,\u201d Le\u2019aupepe told <em>NME.<\/em> \u201cWe don\u2019t have our own social media, or anything like that. We\u2019re not interested in the public stuff, and I tend to require a lot of respite from the world. Having said that, we\u2019re all kind of ready for it again now. It\u2019s weirdly exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad1 id_ad_content-horiz-center\">\n<h5 class=\"taboola-mid-article-title\">Recommended<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3963720\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3963720\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3963720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gang_of_youths_2026_2.jpg\" alt=\"Gang Of Youths, 2026. Credit: Cal McIntyre\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3963720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gang Of Youths, 2026. Credit: Cal McIntyre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Check out the full interview with Le\u2019aupepe below, where he discussed the differences between observational and emotive songwriting, the ongoing struggle with perfectionism and why Gang of Youths continually has to die in order to be reborn again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NME: Hello Dave. Of all the new material the band has been working on, why was \u2018Things Take Time\u2019 chosen as the first single?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>David Le\u2019aupepe:<\/strong> \u201cWell, the powers that be chose it \u2013 probably because it\u2019s the shortest one! It\u2019s a three-minute song, which is miraculous for a band like ours. It\u2019s also a pop song, which is a form I\u2019ve not really dabbled in much. It was a really liberating song to write \u2013 I\u2019ve used that word so many times in interviews in the past, but in this instance it really set me free in a sense. I\u2019m actually singing for once, too. I\u2019ve done a lot of talking that happens to be in tune, or these grandiose fucking yells, but I haven\u2019t really allowed my voice to be free like this before.<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad2 id_ad_content-horiz-center\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things I really like about the song is that, when it was finished and we listened back to it, it felt like a proper break with the past \u2013 and we were OK with that. We\u2019ve achieved great things in the past, and we\u2019re proud of it, but this is the thread we\u2019re following now musically. I was delighted by that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>What place did the song come from in a lyrical sense?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about nothing\u2026 Well, not nothing. It\u2019s about growing plants. My wife ordered too many tomato seeds, so she went to work growing all of these tomatoes in our house. I go over to record with Tom [Hobden, Gang of Youths\u2019 multi-instrumentalist] at his home studio, and that overlooks his back garden. His wife Emma grows all these beautiful plants in the yard. It got me fascinated with the cycle of growth and death, and being baffled that people can grow things without killing them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s funny\u2026 I feel like death and rebirth are a constant part of our subject matter. We\u2019re always dealing with them in one way or another, so it\u2019s kind of weird that we almost accidentally continued it \u2013 even though the song is so different for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3184632\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3184632\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3184632\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/gang_of_youths_brixton_2.jpg\" alt=\"Gang of Youths perform at O2 Academy Brixton on March 15, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako\/WireImage)\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3184632\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gang of Youths perform at O2 Academy Brixton on March 15, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>How naturally did the musical change of pace come to you? There\u2019s fittingly a bit of a parallel with a song like \u2018Tend the Garden\u2019, but even that feels a lot bigger and more layered in comparison to \u2018Things Take Time\u2019\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI came in with the idea one night after dinner, and played the little riff. Recorded it, played a drum part, recorded that, got Donnie [Borzestowski, Gang of Youths\u2019 drummer] to redo it, and voil\u00e0. You hear all of us at work on this song. When Tom heard my little \u2018<em>doo doo doo<\/em>\u2019 in the verse, it was his idea to chuck in a horn arrangement to replicate them. Donnie is a world-class drummer, and doing something a bit jazzier was right in his repertoire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs for Jung [Kim, Gang of Youths\u2019 guitarist\/keyboardist], he always has such a deft hand. He\u2019s always so careful, and so organised with his thoughts. I think that\u2019s why it was funny when I finally sent in my vocal take \u2013 after doing like 400 takes, he was just like, \u2018Fuck it, I don\u2019t really need to worry about it\u2019. Nothing came easily, but everything just made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Everything went into radio silence after \u2018Angel in Realtime.\u2019 Was there ever a period between that cycle ending and the new one beginning where you genuinely thought Gang of Youths was over?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course. That happens after every album we\u2019ve made. I sit there at the end saying \u2018I\u2019m done\u2019, and then enough time passes and I\u2019m up like Leo [DiCaprio] in <em>The Wolf of Wall Street:<\/em>\u00a0\u2018I\u2019m not fucking leaving!\u2019 Out of all of the cycles, \u2018Angel\u2019 was definitely the hardest. I love that album, I really do; I think it\u2019s my best songwriting, but it was this whole family odyssey. The arena thing was so weird, too. We\u2019re an indie rock band \u2013 we never set out to play in stadiums, especially when you look at how scrappy we were when the band started. It was just the nature of things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we came back trying to be an arena-rock band? Snoozy as fuck. We\u2019re not in that place anymore. Those songs from \u2018Angel\u2019 are everyone else\u2019s now. They don\u2019t really play a role in my day-to-day life, or my inner world. What \u2018Things Take Time\u2019 represents is a philosophical freedom from having to write about personal shit. I had to break this cycle of feeling like I have to make opuses that dig into the underbelly of my life every single time. I could just write songs with their own meaning, that are curious and spiritual without having to directly cost me something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was it a process of realising a song could still be reflective of you without having to be very hyper-literally about you, the way a song like \u2018Brothers\u2019 was?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe writing now is less and less about trying to find things within myself to deal with, and more and more about things that I notice and that I contemplate. The new songs are, more often than not, about something I\u2019ve observed rather than something I\u2019ve felt. They\u2019re about the external. There\u2019s another new song we played, \u2018YeYu\u2019, and that\u2019s probably the only really personal song out of all of them. That\u2019s a real point of difference for a songwriter like me.\u201d<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gang of Youths - the angel of 8th ave. | NME Home Sessions\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6TIs-pGToHU?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><strong>As you just mentioned, you played your first show in three years earlier this month at a small theatre 90 minutes south of Sydney, with three new songs on the setlist \u2013 including \u2018Things Take Time\u2019. What did performing on stage again mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cLoads. It renewed something in me. There was a real warmth and affection there \u2013 you always get that with regional audiences in beautiful theatres. I knew some people who were in the front row, and who said hi afterwards. People have gotten married since they last saw us, or had kids since they last saw us. It was nice to see a lot of those familiar faces, and to see how they\u2019re existing and how life is for them now. Hell, it was just nice to see people again. Sometimes, the boredom and the monotony of playing live and touring can wear down on even the most dedicated road dog. We all felt that at the end of the last tour, so there were some nerves in coming back to it. As soon as we stepped out on stage, though, it was like, \u2018this is what it\u2019s all about. This is the point of it all\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>That show felt like a lot of the older material was being reinvented through the lens of the new stuff. You played \u2018Magnolia\u2019 solo on electric guitar, and \u2018Let Me Down Easy\u2019 was pared back in a really subtle way. Can we expect Gang of Youths\u2019 shows to play out a little differently now that it\u2019s no longer a confetti-cannon arena rock show?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven\u2019t even figured that out yet. This was our first foray into really doing it again, you know? The album that we\u2019re working on has more of a sense of just plugging in and playing \u2013 a lot of bare elements of piano, bass, drums, vocals. We want these songs to stand out by themselves, as opposed to needing loads of backing tracks running in order for them to work. That factored into the live show \u2013 could we reinvent these songs in a way that makes sense to us? It was about striking a middle ground between giving people familiarity and us not dying of boredom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is the new album done?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cNah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>How will you know when it\u2019s done?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen someone tells me it\u2019s not the worst thing I\u2019ve ever made! With [debut album, 2015\u2019s] \u2018The Positions\u2019, I had no clue what I was doing. I just knew we had a deadline to turn everything in. With [second album, 2017\u2019s] \u2018Go Farther in Lightness\u2019, I was totally sure about every aspect of that album before we turned it in. All I really know about this one, so far, is that when I got back the masters for \u2018Things Take Time\u2019, it felt like I was closer to the end of the album than I was to the beginning. I\u2019ve always cooked the goose too long, I think, and now it\u2019s a process of learning not to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2018Things Take Time\u2019 is out now. Gang of Youths will perform at All Points East in London\u2019s Hyde Park with Twenty One Pilots on August 30 before a run of UK and European shows in November and December. Visit here for tickets and more information.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/gang-of-youths-interview-david-le-aupepe-things-take-time-new-album-tour-3963715&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gang_of_youths_2026_1.jpg&#8221;] NewsMusic News Gang of Youths talk easing into a new era on \u2018Things Take Time\u2019: \u201cIt felt like a proper break with the past\u201d Frontman David Le\u2019aupepe told NME about his band\u2019s obsession with death and rebirth, why an arena-sized return was never on the cards, and what to expect from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,78],"class_list":["post-2101931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nme-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2101931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2101931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2101931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2101931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}