Gang Of YouthsThe Music chooses one song every week as its Power Pick, shining a light on ONE Aussie song that we think has the potential to be the next big Australian chart hit.
Our Power Pick committee consists of Richard Kingsmill (consultant and former triple j Group Music Director), Maddy Rowe (Nova nights announcer), Nic Kelly (Hit Network nights announcer), Ash McGregor (host of Listen Up with Ash McGregor), Kent “Smallzy” Small (Host of ‘The Smallzy Show’ on the Kiis Network), Irene Hulme (radio consultant and host of Game Changers Radio podcast), Matty Morris (Super Radio Network nights announcer), and Matt O’Gorman (Triple M Homegrown host).
If there’s one thing that will excite an Australian music fan, it’s word of new music from Gang Of Youths. Add in the fact it’s their first piece of new music in years, and comes alongside their return to live shows, and you’ve got all the ingredients for one of the year’s biggest musical stories.
Indeed, four years since the release of their third album, Angel In Realtime (and subsequent EP, Immolation Tape), the Gang are back in full force, unveiling their new single Things Take Time this month.
In true Gang Of Youths fashion, it’s a powerful piece of work that tugs on the heartstrings as it plumbs the depth of emotional intensity, ruminating and meditation on topics such as patience, transformation and life’s cyclical nature.
"It's not really about anything in particular, other than the endless loop of birth, growth, death and rebirth which encases all matter and energy or whatever,” the band say of the single.
Regardless of their intention, the track has already gained a strong following, with their dedicated fanbase quick to add their own meaning to the cinematic cut.
“The welcome back they’ve received speaks volumes - for what they mean, how they’re regarded and how they’ve been missed,” says Richard Kingsmill. “This song won’t blast you away like their typically epic and stadium-scale crowd pleasers. It’s got a calmness and contentment around it that is almost off putting for a band that usually tackles the meaning of everything that’s exhausting and difficult in this world.
“But this has plenty of meaning,” he adds. “Even the ‘do-do-do’s’ – which made me cringe at first – are now cemented into my brain like one of their best lyrics. It’s OK to cruise. It’s OK to be OK. And I’m fine with that feeling right now in the chaos of everything.”
CHART UPDATE
It’s another similar week on Radio Monitor Hot 100 chart, with a few big moves for local acts thrown into the mix.
At the top end of things, Alex Warren and Taylor Swift once again swap positions with Fever Dream and I Knew It, I Knew You at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, while Olivia Rodrigo’s Stupid Song hold steady above the highest-charting Aussie, leaving G Flip to take out the No. 4 position with Bed On Fire for another week.
Josh Fawaz’s controversial rework of Madonna’s Like A Prayer, which attracted attention thanks to the artist’s recent admission of AI usage, again holds steady No. 8, while Sonny Fodera’s Let Me Be In Your Arms departs the top ten and lands at No. 11.
Fodera shows up again at No. 23, with previous chart-topper Think About Us rising one spot higher than last week, while Tame Impala’s Dracula has a slight revival as it jumps seven spots to No. 30, and a previous Power Pick – Ninajirachi & Porter Robinson's WannaCry – jumps three spots to No. 32.
Troye Sivan's She's The Best debuts in the top 50 at No. 41, as does Jem Cassar-Daley's All I'm Thinking About at No. 43. Between those two, we do see another Aussie, with Tones And I appearing alongside Teddy Swims on David Guetta's Gone Gone Gone, jumping 21 positions to No. 42.
Nerve's You jumps an impressive 28 spots to No. 46, while DMA'S' Killing Time is the last local track in the top 50, falling six spots to No. 47.
Over on the ARIA charts, there's a bit of local movement, with Tame Impala's Loser jumping into the top ten at No. 7, while Dracula rises one spot to No. 17, closing out the only Aussies in the top 50.
