Gang of Youths name their fourth album Compañero, and Dave Le’aupepe says he used to think he was done

Gang of Youths have spent four years between albums. The next one has a name, a date and a very different voice.

The band announced Compañero on Thursday, their fourth studio album, due on 12 March 2027. It comes with a new single, Benny’s Video, which takes its title from Michael Haneke’s unsettling 1992 film about a teenager who films a killing. It follows Things Take Time, released in August.

What does it sound like?

The headline change is in the writing. angel in realtime, the 2022 album built around the death of Le’aupepe’s father and the family history it uncovered, was intensely personal. Compañero looks outward, with Le’aupepe writing about lives beyond the facts of his own.

“I liked the detachment. I liked the non-judgment,” he said in an interview to mark the announcement. He called it “its own type of liberation”, and admitted that at one point, “I used to think I was done.”

The record has 11 tracks. Named so far are Things Take Time, Benny’s Video, Street Value, Desert Life Museum, Major Arcana, Manila98 and the closer, Future Be Kind. Early writing happened at multi-instrumentalist Tom Hobden’s home in London before the songs were worked up in several UK studios, with Jung Kim taking a leading role in production. “Every element had to earn its place on this record,” Kim said.

It is released through Mosy Recordings and Sony Music Australia, with RCA in the UK and Arista in the US.

When can Australians see them?

The only Australian 2027 date confirmed so far is Party in the Paddock in Tasmania, where Gang of Youths headline on Friday 5 February at Quercus Park.

Demand for the band at home is not in question. A recent show in Thirroul sold out in 45 seconds, and two Sydney Opera House concerts went within minutes. Asked about a wider Australian run, Le’aupepe said: “We’ll do other things in Australia for sure.” No dates have been announced.

And overseas?

The band begins an extensive North American tour at the Royale in Boston on 17 March 2027, five days after the album comes out, and the run ends at Coachella in April, where Gang of Youths are on the 2027 line-up. Fans can sign up for pre-sale access to the North American shows on the band’s website; full dates have not yet been published.

Why does it matter?

Four years is a long gap for a band at this level, and the timing is deliberate: the album lands days before the North American run begins, with a Coachella slot in April to close it. For Australian fans, it means a February festival headline at home and a promise of more, with the new songs out a month later.