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The Positions
The Positions is the debut studio album by Australian alternative rock band Gang of Youths, released on 17 April 2015 through Mosy Recordings. Written by frontman David Le'aupepe over three years, his lyrics reflect personal struggles including the breakdown of his marriage following his then-wife's cancer diagnosis and his suicide attempt. Produced mostly by the band and Kevin McMahon, the album lingered in development for years, with constant re-recordings owing to Le'aupepe's perfectionism.
Supported by three singles including the band's breakout hit "Magnolia", The Positions debuted at number five on the ARIA Albums Chart. It earned the band three nominations at the 2015 ARIA Awards, for Breakthrough Artist, Best Rock Album and Best Cover Art, as well as Australian Album of the Year at the J Awards of 2015. In 2021, Rolling Stone Australia ranked The Positions at number 89 in their list of the 200 greatest Australian albums of all time.
In 2011, David Le'aupepe was 18 years old when he met his first wife who, at the time, was going through chemotherapy for metastasised melanoma. The couple wed when he was 21. When her cancer intensified, Le'aupepe began writing songs as a coping mechanism. He contacted several childhood friends to form Gang of Youths in 2012. His marriage broke down over the ensuing years.
On the night of 3 June 2014, after a week-long bender, Le'aupepe attempted suicide while heavily drunk, stumbling towards a train station. He said it was the third or fourth time he tried to end his life. His concerned friends called the police who intercepted and sat him underneath a magnolia tree, inspiring their song "Magnolia".
Le'aupepe is the sole lyricist on The Positions. Across two or three years, he wrote 40 songs. While living and writing in Nashville, Tennessee, Le'aupepe took imaginal inspiration from the sweeping, grandiose landscapes around him. The album's narrative is centred around the health of his ex-wife and their collapsing relationship—he has retrospectively labelled it "the cancer album". The album's storytelling is nonlinear: Le'aupepe shuffled the track listing to have "The Overpass" as the closing track, ending with a sense of hope and "against-the-odds valiance", while the album's true lyrical end point is in the middle. He also aimed to write in a conversational, fluid style, inspired by Paul Kelly and Mark Knopfler. The Positions is named in reference to Leonard Cohen's 1984 album Various Positions. Le'aupepe liked how the title represented "‘the positions’ of [his] grief and yearning and fear and desire."
The sound of The Positions was heavily inspired by U2's The Joshua Tree, an album which Le'aupepe described as his "beacon light". Journalist Mark Mordue found its lyricism owing to Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. Reviewing for Happy, music writer Nick Stillman likened "The Diving Bell" and "Magnolia" to power anthems from the 1980s, while other comparisons were made to the work of 2007 indie bands including Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon. Music critics have described The Positions as a pop album, but one that "exist[s] on the very outer limits of pop," according to Joseph Earp of Renowned for Sound. Stillman agrees that it contains catchy hooks and melodies and a meticulous production, but its lyrical depth pushes the album beyond pop sensibilities. Other genre descriptors have included pop rock and modern rock.
Six of the album's 10 tracks were self-produced. Kevin McMahon, whom the band approached due to his work with Titus Andronicus and Swans, is credited for production on three tracks. The band worked in McMahon's studio, Marcata Recording, in Hudson Valley, New York. Chris Collins also produced alongside the band on "The Diving Bell". Peter Katis was responsible for most of the mixing. With a "sprawling and expansive" soundscape, the average song length is six minutes, and no track is less than four.
Recording and production took an exceptionally long time, spanning three years and facing persistent delays. Le'aupepe, a perfectionist, said that: "Every single fucking time we’re putting the final touches on the record we just veer away from it." He called almost every song on the album a "holy pain in the ass to finish." "Radioface" and "The Overpass" were constantly re-recorded. "The Diving Bell" made the final track listing after being scrapped in 2013, and it was re-written just one week before recording wrapped up. "Magnolia" was similarly composed at the last minute.
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The Positions
The Positions is the debut studio album by Australian alternative rock band Gang of Youths, released on 17 April 2015 through Mosy Recordings. Written by frontman David Le'aupepe over three years, his lyrics reflect personal struggles including the breakdown of his marriage following his then-wife's cancer diagnosis and his suicide attempt. Produced mostly by the band and Kevin McMahon, the album lingered in development for years, with constant re-recordings owing to Le'aupepe's perfectionism.
Supported by three singles including the band's breakout hit "Magnolia", The Positions debuted at number five on the ARIA Albums Chart. It earned the band three nominations at the 2015 ARIA Awards, for Breakthrough Artist, Best Rock Album and Best Cover Art, as well as Australian Album of the Year at the J Awards of 2015. In 2021, Rolling Stone Australia ranked The Positions at number 89 in their list of the 200 greatest Australian albums of all time.
In 2011, David Le'aupepe was 18 years old when he met his first wife who, at the time, was going through chemotherapy for metastasised melanoma. The couple wed when he was 21. When her cancer intensified, Le'aupepe began writing songs as a coping mechanism. He contacted several childhood friends to form Gang of Youths in 2012. His marriage broke down over the ensuing years.
On the night of 3 June 2014, after a week-long bender, Le'aupepe attempted suicide while heavily drunk, stumbling towards a train station. He said it was the third or fourth time he tried to end his life. His concerned friends called the police who intercepted and sat him underneath a magnolia tree, inspiring their song "Magnolia".
Le'aupepe is the sole lyricist on The Positions. Across two or three years, he wrote 40 songs. While living and writing in Nashville, Tennessee, Le'aupepe took imaginal inspiration from the sweeping, grandiose landscapes around him. The album's narrative is centred around the health of his ex-wife and their collapsing relationship—he has retrospectively labelled it "the cancer album". The album's storytelling is nonlinear: Le'aupepe shuffled the track listing to have "The Overpass" as the closing track, ending with a sense of hope and "against-the-odds valiance", while the album's true lyrical end point is in the middle. He also aimed to write in a conversational, fluid style, inspired by Paul Kelly and Mark Knopfler. The Positions is named in reference to Leonard Cohen's 1984 album Various Positions. Le'aupepe liked how the title represented "‘the positions’ of [his] grief and yearning and fear and desire."
The sound of The Positions was heavily inspired by U2's The Joshua Tree, an album which Le'aupepe described as his "beacon light". Journalist Mark Mordue found its lyricism owing to Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. Reviewing for Happy, music writer Nick Stillman likened "The Diving Bell" and "Magnolia" to power anthems from the 1980s, while other comparisons were made to the work of 2007 indie bands including Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon. Music critics have described The Positions as a pop album, but one that "exist[s] on the very outer limits of pop," according to Joseph Earp of Renowned for Sound. Stillman agrees that it contains catchy hooks and melodies and a meticulous production, but its lyrical depth pushes the album beyond pop sensibilities. Other genre descriptors have included pop rock and modern rock.
Six of the album's 10 tracks were self-produced. Kevin McMahon, whom the band approached due to his work with Titus Andronicus and Swans, is credited for production on three tracks. The band worked in McMahon's studio, Marcata Recording, in Hudson Valley, New York. Chris Collins also produced alongside the band on "The Diving Bell". Peter Katis was responsible for most of the mixing. With a "sprawling and expansive" soundscape, the average song length is six minutes, and no track is less than four.
Recording and production took an exceptionally long time, spanning three years and facing persistent delays. Le'aupepe, a perfectionist, said that: "Every single fucking time we’re putting the final touches on the record we just veer away from it." He called almost every song on the album a "holy pain in the ass to finish." "Radioface" and "The Overpass" were constantly re-recorded. "The Diving Bell" made the final track listing after being scrapped in 2013, and it was re-written just one week before recording wrapped up. "Magnolia" was similarly composed at the last minute.