Gang Of Youths On Following Up On "The Cancer Album"

"How do you follow up the cancer album?" he says. "It's a challenge to make another one, and I really believe in what Dave's doing. We're really grateful for the people that give a shit and I'm really excited."

As the bass player in the band, Max Dunn is hesitant to put words in the mouth of lead singer David Le'aupepe regarding the songwriting on their upcoming record, Go Farther In Lightness. However, he goes to an effort to try and describe how the new album is shaping up in terms of its sound. "I think it still feels broadly like a Gang Of Youths album with that raw, Positions-vibe. We've really challenged ourselves. It's hard to describe because in some ways some of the songs will surprise people, but overall it has that kind of anthemic musicality that I hope people recognise when they hear The Positions."

"The way he phrases things will always make them sound like they've come from suffering. He could sing bloody Somewhere Over The Rainbow and it would sound angsty."

The feeling of continuity is largely thanks to Le'aupepe's voice, which comes with its own sense of immediacy and constellation of inflections. "I think that because Dave's voice is so unique, speaking as a fan and someone who likes his songs, the way he phrases things will always make them sound like they've come from suffering. He could sing bloody Somewhere Over The Rainbow and it would sound angsty. It's going to be a very urgent album."

The band don't seem interested in anything less than this sense of vein-popping urgency, which was captured not just in the music of their debut album, but on its cover, too. While the artwork for the second album is still some time away, Dunn talks about the process behind capturing that first image. "The photo was taken by our friend Rahkela Nardella. We wanted to make it look like Dave was trying to fight someone, and we were holding him back. Ultimately though, we wanted to create an image that showed brotherhood, and the fact that we all went through hell together."

As for whether the final product of all this labour will be finished soon, Dunn says it's hard to tell. "It's almost done, I'd say. The songs will evolve and get better, and some of them won't survive the rigours of the process. I think with Magnolia or The Diving Bell, for example, they were written like a week before we'd finished recording. We thought, 'This album isn't quite ready, let's record another song,' and did The Diving Bell. Magnolia was also very last minute. It's hard to say that the record's done because Dave will probably write a song in the Virgin lounge on the way home from a show this summer that will end up being the best song on the record. You're kind of pissing into the wind if you try and plan too much when it's going to be done."