‘Go Farther In Lightness’ is the second full length album from Gang Of Youths, and the follow up to the Aria #5 debut album ‘The Positions’ and Aria #2 EP ‘Let Me Be Clear’ Go Farther In Lightness is my healing record. It’s my answer to the question: “what do I say now, after writing the hour-long record about cancer?”. I suppose it’s my attempt of making sense of the world thereafter, and to some effect, my attempt to make the lessons I learned from my heroes, my favourite texts, my friends and from my short time on earth readily accessible and available to you, those who want to give it a chance. So, Go Farther In Lightness is about being a person. A real life human being, with all our self-loathing, hopes, anxieties, sorrows and joys. It is about not knowing what the fuck I’m doing, but having a good ol’ stab at it anyways. It is about demonstrating empathy, overthinking metaphysics and, at the risk of seeming overly trite, embracing humanness in myself and those around me in the here and now. No, I don’t believe that we are “cool”, nor do we clothe ourselves in ornaments of what is currently in vogue re: indie rock in 2017. We are not predominantly white, middle-class progressives producing music self-aware and effete — nor are we making a new fetishised brand of garage punk that inexplicably makes a soft return every 15 years. We’re something of an in-between, I think. Not cool, but not totally garish and awkward, attempting to make music about and for the forgotten people whom, like us, have always had trouble finding a place. And no, I don’t believe guitar music will ever become part of the dominating cultural hegemony ever again — why the fuck should it? What I do believe however, is that music that is geared toward connecting with all people on a human level, bypassing bullshitty, arbitrary ephemera is making a cultural return in some way. Maybe it never left, and I’m playing a dumb card. But I hope that Go Farther In Lightness is part of this new sincere in some way. Because it means a lot to me, and to us. I hope it finds its way into the hearts of you who would dare to let go of your cynicism for an hour and a half. And I hope you like it. I truly do. - Dave Le’aupepe, Gang of Youths
