Gang of Youths

Australian alternative rock troupe Gang of Youths formed in Sydney, New South Wales in 2011 and burst onto the scene in 2015 with their debut album, The Positions. The band – comprising songwriter David Le'aupepe (lead vocals, guitar), Max Dunn (bass guitar), Jung Kim (lead guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski (drums), and Tom Hobden (violin, keyboards, guitar) – scored a Top 5 hit on the ARIA Albums Chart, while at the J Awards that year, the LP was nominated for Australian Album of the Year. They found themselves in the spotlight with their 2017 single "Let Me Down Easy," which marked the band's first Top 50 single in their Australian homeland and was certified double platinum in 2019. The song was featured on the Gang of Youths's second studio album, Go Farther in Lightness (2017), which debuted at Number 1 on The ARIA Albums Chart, was nominated for eight awards at the ARIA Music Awards of 2017 (winning four: Album Of The Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album and Producer of the Year), and spawned a handful of other popular singles, including "The Deepest Sighs, the Frankest Shadows" and "The Heart Is a Muscle," which was their first charting single on the US Adult Alternative Songs Chart, where it peaked at Number 37. In July 2018, Gang of Youths were the first artist to perform on MTV Unplugged Australia and the performance was captured at the Cobblestone Pavilion in Melbourne's Metropolitan Meat Market and released in October 2018. Following a string of singles over subsequent years, Gang of Youths, who are of mixed heritage – Jung Kim is Korean-American, Max Dunn is from New Zealand, Donnie Borzestowski is Polish-Australian, Tom Hobden is British, while David Le'aupepe is of Samoan-Jewish descent – unleashed a new single in 2021: "the angel of 8th ave," which stays faithful to their garage-tinted alternative rock roots. The band – now residing in London - dropped their third album in February 2022, Angel in Realtime (stylised angel in realtime.), which was inspired by the illness and death of Dave Le'aupepe's father.