Gang of Four releasing new EP Andy Gill finished before his death (stream a track)

Andy Gill was working on new Gang of Four music right up until his untimely passing two weeks ago. That EP, titled This Heaven Gives Me Migraine, will be out digitally on February 26 and features reworked versions of four Gang of Four songs from throughout the band’s run. Says Andy’s wife, Catherine Mayer:

From the hospital, Andy continued to give final notes on mixes of music that he looked forward to releasing. 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 EP includes new takes on classic Gang of Four song “Natural’s Not in It,” which was on their 1979 debut Entertainment! and gives this EP its title; “Toreador” from 2019’s Happy Now, and “The Dying Rays,” which was on their 2015 album What Happens Next and was originally sung by Herbert Grönemeyer. “’The Dying Rays’ 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 John “Gaoler” Sterry who was Go4’s most recent singer. “the lyrics seem all the more pertinent now.” You can listen to that via Rolling Stone, below.