angel in realtime.

Grief turned into something huge and generous, a record that never once flinches from what it's actually about. Le'aupepe channels the loss of his father into something sprawling and deeply personal, tracing his Samoan heritage and family history without ever losing the emotional core underneath. In the Wake of Your Leave hits like a gut punch, that Springsteen sized anthem energy but earned through real pain rather than borrowed. It runs a little long and occasionally tips into overwrought territory, all those big swelling arrangements stacking up, but the sincerity carries it through. Ambitious, exhausting in places, and genuinely moving.