Gang of Four Announce New EP Recorded Before Andy Gill’s Death, Share First Single "The Dying Rays (2020)"

Andy Gill, the co-founder of post-punk band Gang of Four, passed away earlier this month. Up until days before his death, Gill was working on a new Gang of Four release, which the band, along with Gill’s wife Catherine Mayer, now announce as the This Heaven Gives Me Migraines EP, to be released Feb. 26. They also share the single “The Dying Rays (2020)” today (Feb. 14).

“From the hospital, Andy continued to give final notes on mixes of music that he looked forward to releasing,” says Mayer in a statement. “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.”

The track is a re-imagination of a song previously released on Gang of Four’s 2015 album What Happens Next. The original version featured vocals by Herbert Grönemeyer, while the 2020 version has band member John “Gaoler” Sterry on vocals. The song was composed and produced by the late Andy Gill.

“’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,” says Sterry in a statement. “The lyrics seem all the more pertinent now.”

Gang of Four Announce New EP Recorded Before Andy Gill’s Death, Share First Single “The Dying Rays (2020)”