Gang of Four front man – and sole remaining member of what many would remember as the band’s classic up – Andy Gill is astute enough to understand the problem, but uncompromising enough not to take the easy way out. He’s solely in charge now of a group who on 1979’s Entertainment! largely defined a post-punk musical landscape which continues to veer in and out of fashion; to name the bands it’s influenced here would take up several rows beneath the fold.
Rather than profit from that, Gill has recruited Thomas McNeice, John ‘Gaoler’ Sterry and Tobias Humble since the departure of co-founder Jon King after the release of 2011’s Content and chosen to move in a more fluid, contemporary direction that’s seen the use of loops and programming as well as conventional instruments, Don’t Ask Me the foremost example of a man now steeped in experience as a producer alongside that of being a songwriter.
The misanthropy for which GoF have sometimes been renowned for is far from neutered – Ivanka, My Name’s On It is as coruscating as anything in the now vast canon of anti-Trump tunes penned in the last few years – but Gill’s passion for both textures and pastures new is testimony to a man who’s never content to relive old glories.
You can read a full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 