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Gang Of Four have shared new song ‘The Dying Rays (2020)’ and announced details of an upcoming EP.
‘This Heaven Gives Me Migraine’, set to come out on February 26, will feature three new recordings that reimagine the band’s musical legacy, and was being worked on by the late Andy Gill in the days leading up to his death at the start of this month.
- Read more: Andy Gill – the NME obituary, 1956-2020: The guitar hero who made radical politics danceable
“From the hospital, Andy continued to give final notes on mixes of music that he looked forward to releasing,” Gill’s wife Catherine Mayer explains. “Since his death, I have been working with the band to fulfill his vision. The only change we have made is to include on the EP two brief recordings of Andy speaking, both, in different ways, essence of Andy.”
Gang of Four singer John ‘Gaoler’ Sterry adds: “This collection of songs was recorded just before Andy died and it was his intention to get these out – to represent the way we played them on tour, late last year. All three songs were recorded in Andy’s home studio in London and there’s a fly-on-the-wall intimacy to this EP; from the song selection to the snippets of spoken word.”
‘The Dying Rays (2020)’ is a new version of a track of the same name that appeared on Gang Of Four’s 2015 album ‘What Happens Next’. Originally recorded with then-Gang Of Four vocalist Herbert Grönemeyer, the new version is instead sung by Sterry. Listen to it below.
Speaking of the song, Sterry says: “’The Dying Rays (2020)’ is just a beautiful song and completely confounds what people think of when they think Gang Of Four, which in itself is quite a Gang Of Four thing I guess; the lyrics seem all the more pertinent now.”
The EP will open and close with spoken word interludes by Andy, while the other two songs, ‘Natural’s Not In It’ and ‘Toreador’, also reimagine tracks from Gang Of Four’s back catalogue.
View the tracklisting to ‘This Heaven Gives Me Migraine’ below.
01 Anthrax (Andy speaks)
02 The Dying Rays (2020)
03 Natural’s Not In It
04 Toreador
05 Purple in Nature (Andy speaks)
Andy Gill died on February 1 this year, aged 64. “Our great friend and Supreme Leader has died,” Gang Of Four said in a statement.
Tributes poured in following the guitarist’s death from all corners of the music industry, with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea penning an emotional message of remembrance. Gill produced the band’s 1984 debut album.
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