The Andy Gill-led Gang of Four will mount an 18-date U.S. tour in February ahead of the release of the post-punk legends’ first new album in four years, a 10-song collection called Happy Now that was previewed this year via the band’s Complicit EP.
The album, which features the songs that appeared on Complicit aka the one with Ivanka Trump on the cover, is due out March 1 and can be pre-ordered now via PledgeMusic.
Happy Now, the follow-up to 2015 full-length What Happens Next, finds guitarist Gill joined by frontman John “Gaoler” Sterry and the rhythm section of Thomas McNiece and Tobias Humble.
According to press materials, the new record features “the classic Go4 sound with a modern slant,” mixing “electronics and angular lines pursuing 21st century grooves (to) achieve the striking balance between the band’s fundamental sound and its restless embrace of the now and the new”
Of the new songs, Gill says:
“Happiness is always an odd one; so difficult to pin down. Our personal lives are always a mixture-sad things, tragedy, joy. When we were younger we thought things would gradually get better: the world would be less sexist, less racist, progress would be made and now we know that history isn’t linear; it’s very capable of U-turns.”
The band’s tour opens Feb. 4 in Tustin, Calif., and wraps up Feb. 25 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
See full dates, and the new album’s tracklist, below.
Gang of Four, Happy Now
1. “Toreador”
2. “Alpha Male”
3. “One True Friend”
4. “Ivanka – My Name’s On It”
5. “Don’t Ask Me”
6. “Change the Locks”
7. “I’m A Liar”
8. “White Lies”
9. “Paper Thin”
10. “Lucky” (Bonus Track)
Gang of Four tour dates
Feb. 4: Marty’s On Newport, Tustin, CA
Feb. 5: The Casbah, San Diego, CA
Feb. 6: Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA
Feb. 8: Strummer’s, Fresno, CA
Feb. 9: The Chapel, San Francisco, CA
Feb. 11: Globe Hall, Denver, CO
Feb. 12: Slow Down, Omaha, NE
Feb. 13: Space, Evanston, IL
Feb. 14: Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
Feb. 16:El Club, Detroit, MI
Feb. 17: Club Café, Pittsburgh, PA
Feb. 19: Once Ballroom, Somerville, MA
Feb. 20: Space Ballroom, Hamden, CT
Feb. 21: U Street Music Hall, Washington, D.C.
Feb. 22: Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Feb. 23: Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ
Feb. 24: The Colony, Woodstock, NY
Feb. 25: Rough Trade NYC, Brooklyn, NY
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Gang of Four sets North American tour in support of new album ‘What Happens Next’
- Vintage Video: Gang of Four deliver an electrifying set at Croatian festival in 1981
- Andy Gill debuts new song, album plans as Gang of Four moves on without Jon King
- Video: Gang of Four, ‘It Was Never Gonna Turn Out Too Good,’ off 2011′s ‘Content’
- Video: Watch Gang of Four’s 40-minute live set recorded for KCRW
Gang of Four? Ship of Theseus, more like.
Annnnnd since the joke is still funny, Andy’s living as he dreams: alone.