Gang of Youths - angel in realtime (February 25, 2022) • Page 22

"Spirit Boy" is tops for me, but I do adore how this record ends.

 

I'm not here to sh*t on anyone that loves this LP, but I have trouble liking it enough to go back to. I think the issue is the subject matter of the lyrics is so specific that I have trouble relating to it. The music is great though.

 

I’ve always been team music as opposed to lyrics. I don’t relate to plenty of lyrics from my favorite albums, the same way I don’t relate to characters from my favorite movies. It’s not my art, so it’s all subjective in my eyes. I’m just here to take it in and I find enjoyment in that, not to insert myself into it. That’s just me though!

 

i hear ya. wish I was programmed that way but my wiring is different. Good news is I still have go farther which is a classic in my eyes

 

I think it's precisely how wild the story here is that makes it really gripping for me. It's such a unique lens to examine grief.

 

Plus even if the story is specific the feelings are pretty universal and relatable. It's easy for me to empathise with the a lot of what's on here without having to go through it.

 

I remember noticing this early when listening and it kinda threw me off then too.

It approaches its lyricism from such a different perspective. This album feels like music created for the creator, and less so for the audience. Go Farther… had quite a few moments of “I know you can relate” and a certain type of implied universalness (e.g. “Say Yes to Life” and has a pretty conversational feel to it.), but this one approaches it from a hyper specific point of view.

Go Farther… feels like an album about trying to figure out the big questions of life and death.

Angel in Real Time feels like an album about trying to figure out the smaller, more intimate questions of my life and the death in it.

 

i felt this for the first handful of listens and it’s definitely something I feel commonly, but aside from a few specific songs and lyrics my brain generally automatically defers to a more vague interpretation. That said, listening to it so much because of the music has made the lyrics more endearing and less overtly unrelatable.

 

fair points all around. I definitely plan to give it a few more listens before end of year but we’ll see.

 

I get the argument here but also I don't think every album should be universal y'know? he's clearly working through some stuff on this album and I'm glad he could do it in a healthy way

 

The fact that there’s basically no anger in the lyrics is incredible to me. That wouldn’t be me.

 

Right?! That’s another thing I find kind of miraculous about this album. It’s so, so empathetic in ways you wouldn’t necessarily expect.

 

I have always found Dave to be a slightly overwrought lyricist, but it’s his delivery that always sells it for me. On a musical level I think this is a really unique and phenomenal record so I can see past pretty much any lyrical faults

 

genuinely one of my favourite lyricists ever lmao

 

Yeah, I agree that I don’t necessarily need universality to connect with the lyrics - there are some really striking moments of connecting behind the veneer of his rock star status that’s really poignant imo. This is deeply personal record and all the better for it! Idk, maybe it’s because I connect with the overall feelings behind his personal stories that helps levitate the record, as well as using the record as vehicle to connect with my own father across generations, and his to his own (he passed years ago).

 

yeah i cannot imagine anything else this year sounding this good

 

I went for a walk this morning and listened to this in full for the first time in a bit. Can’t remember the last record that’s had this level of staying power for me.

 

Feeling a little down tonight and Go Farther In Lightness is hitting exceptionally well

 

HYLI Vol XXV: Gang of Youths and Tómarúm

wrote about it

 

Pat's buddy: "It’s a little too much like U2"
Pat: "what dipshit cauldron are you living in where this is a bad thing"

 

thank you so much

 

Brothers hits like a freight train every time. What an outstanding song.

 

great cover of a perfect song

 

forgot about that tune but it’s an all timer

 

just seeing they also did this for the song Blood which is, also, an all timer. Wow.