Although angel in realtime. is eclectic - influences range from American minimalism and contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain’s alternative/indie scenes, from drum ‘n’ bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop - it’s equally rooted in David Le'aupepe’s Samoan heritage, with the majority of tracks featuring samples from David Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South Pacific. angel in realtime. also features contributions from a cast of talented Pasifika and Māori vocalists and instrumentalists.

Gang Of Youths explain, “the album is about the life and legacy of Dave Le’aupepe’s father, indigenous identity, death, grief and God. And also, the Angel, Islington.”

Despite and indeed because of lead singer Le’aupepe’s father’s absence, his influence permeates every talking point that the album has to offer. At times it’s solely focused upon the precise, personal experiences of loss: the dichotomy of intensity and peace that comes as someone passes through their final days; the overwhelming feeling in the wake of their death that life will never be the same, even if the rest of the world at large remains utterly unchanged.

Le’aupepe says, “My dad was a gifted and passionate gardener. It's where he funnelled a lot of his energy and sensitivity, and despite our humble surroundings, we were always enveloped by beauty. The journey he made from Samoa to NZ to Australia was a difficult and inspiring one, but also fraught with mistakes, regret and terrible choices. I like to think he was building something beautiful, and pondering what life had given him in spite of his mistakes and concealment. We never knew his story until after he died, so this is the most poetic interpretation of his affinity for gardening that I could think of.”

angel in realtime. features the recent singles, “the angel of 8th ave.,” telling of falling in love in a new city and making a home in another, and “the man himself,” a song created around a sample recording from the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands that is about living without the guiding hand of your own father.