Gang of Youths

Although the poetic, heart 'n' soul Australian indie rock group's music is eclectic – influences range from American minimalism and contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain’s alternative/indie scenes, from drum ‘n’ bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop – it’s equally rooted in vocalist Dave Le’aupepe’s Samoan heritage, with tracks featuring samples from David Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South Pacific, with contributions from a cast of talented Pasifika and Māori vocalists and instrumentalists.

When the Sydney-formed band were starting out, they played a tiny Melbourne pub with only five people in it – taking the dingy back corner stage like they were playing to 90,000. “We literally played like we were at Wembley Stadium,” the band later told Rolling Stone. Incapable of not giving every show everything they have, that same early energy has shot Gang Of Youths from pub gigs to the stadiums and arenas they always saw themselves in, scoring a UK Top 10 album in the process.