Gang of Youths working on new album; Daniel Ricciardo posts brief song clips
We have confirmation that Gang of Youths is currently in the studio working on music for the band’s new album.
It comes in the form of clips from an Instagram story posted today by Australian Formula 1 race car driver, Daniel Ricciardo, who’s made no secret that he’s a big Gang of Youths fan.
As of this moment, you can watch and hear the two 15-second clips right here. But it’s an Instagram story, so the clips won’t be available forever.
As best we can tell, the clips capture two different songs.
Clip #1 (left side of image above)
Clip #1 has Dave initially singing over a slow electric guitar (sounds like Dave’s playing, too) before Donnie joins in on drums. The lyrics sound something like this:
???
Giving (or give in?) just like my father
Shot me out of northeast
The winter’s colder…
???
In the video, Donnie is initially adjusting his drum kit, so it’s possible that what he starts playing is just a test and not part of the song that Dave is working on.
Clip #2 (right side of image above)
This clip is a mid-tempo track that sounds like a much more fully-formed song. In the video, you can see Dave singing and playing guitar, Donnie on drums, and Max seems to be playing bass and visible in a reflection on the studio’s window between the control room and recording room.
Dave seems to just be scat-singing some random words and sounds; I can’t make out anything specific. At about the 10-second mark, he (or someone) says “chorus” and the song shifts to a different key.
Album Status
Last time we heard anything from Gang of Youths about their next album, Max was telling RIFF magazine that he expects the album to be influenced and inspired by Dave’s dad, Tattersall, who died from cancer last summer at 80 years old. So it should be no surprise to hear a reference to “my father” in the first clip above.
Prior to that, Dave told a Dutch radio station that he has some early material for a new album, but “it hasn’t been recorded yet.”
Looks like that’s not the case anymore. Unless this is some non-album project that’s still under wraps, it looks like Gang of Youths has started recording its new album.
As far as a release date goes, Dave told RadioX earlier this year that it “probably won’t come out this year.” He also said he thinks it’ll at least be finished by the end of 2019, but that was before the band committed to a second run of shows supporting Mumford & Sons.
As always, for the absolute latest and most complete information, keep an eye on our Gang of Youths new album page — we’re updating it with every new development.
(Thanks to Kate B. for the news tip via Facebook.)