Last week, Australian rockers Gang of Youths surprise-released their latest self-produced EP total serene, the band’s first record since their breakout album Go Farther In Lightness. The EP includes their previous single “the angel of 8th ave.,” which Paste named one of the best songs of June. Monday, the band shared the video for EP cut “unison,” directed by Joel Barney and based on a concept by lead singer David Le’aupepe.
Featuring Le’aupepe and the band on a beach wandering and performing amongst various washed-up items, the video mirrors the bold minimalism of the song as well as the band’s incredible capacity for writing especially cathartic music. The single features lush strings and pianos, and the band even manages to implement a banjo in a way that feels texturally and sonically satisfying alongside the singer’s cool voice.
Le’aupepe gave the following statement about the new video: “‘unison’ is a deeply important track for us that really signals where the music is headed on the new record. 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.”
Below, check out the videos for “unison” and “the angel of 8th ave.”
