Gang of Youths have detailed a new album to coincide with the announcement they’ll be playing Coachella next year. The follow-up to 2022’s angel in realtime is called Compañero, and it’s out March 12. It includes the previously released single ‘Things Take Time’, and today they’ve shared a new single, the sparkly, uptempo ‘Benny’s Video’, which takes its name from the 1992 Michael Haneke film. Check it out below.
“I think we’ve established by now that mortality and death are never going to be far from the surface of a Gang Of Youths song, but the prism through which they’re observed has shifted,” violinist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Hobden said in a statement. “You might as well face death with a wry smile, because you can’t outrun it. The darkness doesn’t need to diminish the warmth, and the warmth doesn’t have to disguise the darkness. There’s no reason a record about death shouldn’t also be a celebration of being alive, however ridiculous and unremarkable that might sometimes be.”
Frontman David Le’aupepe added: “I had this realization that I didn’t need to channel all this brutality anymore. I used to do that out of some shame about being an artist. But I began looking at my life and experience, and began to think that making art is a worthwhile thing to continue exploring in itself.”
The new album was recorded across the UK, with sessions taking place at Decoy Studios alongside in-house engineer Robert Sellens and additional sessions at Redchurch, Urchin, Hoxa, and Cloud 9. The band sought to record the album live as much as possible, with Jung Kim primarily producing and engineering. “We’re actually incredibly goofy and light-hearted, and I think we wanted this to be felt in what we made next,” Kim commented. “The approach was often quite whimsical, leading to uncharted territory sonically.”
“Real life doesn’t dictate anything; it just throws things at you and expects you to trip over them occasionally,” Le’aupepe concluded. “That’s how I want to create, and to enjoy my life and my relationships. It’s always a process of becoming.”
Compañero Cover Artwork:
Compañero Tracklist:
1. This Machine, It’s A Classic
2. Things Take Time
3. YeYu
4. Manilla ’98
5. Street Value
6. Desert Life Museum
7. Benny’s Video
8. Major Arcana
9. Ants Control the World
10. Which Side of the River Are You On?
11. Future Be Kind
