Album Review: Gang Of Youths - Let Me Be Clear

19 July 2016 | 4:40 pm | Ross Clelland

"Candid, sometimes uncomfortable, emotionalism."

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A kind of coda and companion piece to the quite extraordinary album The Positions, and David Le'aupepe's often heart-burning diarising of a loved one struggling with terminal illness. 

This extends the narrative: the mood is maybe more about acceptance and - particularly in its centrepiece track, Strange Diseases - trying to find peace in memories, although the clenched yell of 'fuck!' in A Sudden Light suggests there's still some rage against the shadows falling. There's sometimes an odd grandeur to it as strings sweep in, but this seems an almost deliberately awkward gesture - more Arcade Fire puzzlement than Muse pomposity. Gang Of Youths again offer candid, sometimes uncomfortable, emotionalism.