Fresh off dropping a three-track EP in Total Serene, Gang of Youths have shared visuals for the uplifting new single ‘unison’.
The track itself, one of two Gang of Youths originals to feature on Total Serene (the third track, a cover of Elbow’s ‘asleep in the back’), continues to show the band’s move in new sonic directions.
Incorporating fleshed out beats and production along with all-enveloping instrumentation, ‘unison’ is the first Gang of Youths track to feature prominent samples of Polynesian vocals.
For songwriter and frontman David Le’aupepe, the new Gang of Youths material will reflect his own journey of cultural discovery; ‘unison’ providing a unique jump off point to what the band’s next album has in store.
The video takes the action to the British seaside; the narrative matching the song’s minimalist opening before breaking into its vibrant and cathartic second half.
Watch the ‘unison’ video below.
“‘unison’ is a deeply important track for us that really signals where the music is headed on the new record,” Le’aupepe said upon the single’s release.
“I conceived the song in Samoa, my ancestral homeland. Here we sample and introduce the work of David Fanshawe, who travelled to the Pacific Islands in the 1980s and recorded the most extensive library of indigenous Pacific music anywhere in the world.”
The release of ‘unison’ follows on from Gang of Youths’ comeback single ‘the angel of 8th ave.’ back in June. There has been no release date confirmed for the London-via-Sydney band’s forthcoming third album.
