UK's legendary post-punk Gang of Four will release a new album, What Happens Next, on February 24, 2015 on Metropolis Records in the USA and Canada, and Membran in Europe. The follow-up to the band's 2011 album Content, What Happens Next features collaborations with Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Robbie Furze from The Big Pink, Gail Ann Dorsey, German superstar Herbert Grönemeyer and Japanese superstar Hotei. Gang of Four's lineup for this album is Andy Gill (guitar), John "Gaoler" Sterry (vocals), Thomas McNiece (bass) and Jonny Finnegan (drums).

The first album without vocalist Jon King, What Happens Next refers to both the outside world and the band itself: an emphatic commitment to the future. "The focus is more on universal issues, like how individuals behave in certain ways or how our world is constructed, than local issues or current affairs," says founding guitarist and songwriter Andy Gill. "Gang of Four is anything but parochial." When King left the project, a reinvigorated Gill seized the opportunity to re-imagine Gang of Four from the ground up. The new album is an unexpected twist that still operates as the next logical step for the legendary post-punk band.



Sandwiched between Joy Division's landmark album Unknown Pleasures and Led Zeppelin's iconic IV, Gang of Four's debut Entertainment! sits at #8 on Pitchfork's Top 100 of the 1970s, proclaiming it "caustic and bursting with disgust for unethical capitalism, opportunist politicians and consumer society, among other things, but it's also crafted with amazing pop sensibility - and is, of course, remarkably danceable." Earlier this year, that same album was found on Kurt Cobain's handwritten list of favorite albums. Echoing the singular importance of the band's impact on music, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello told Rolling Stone this past July 2014 that "there's no one more influential on my guitar playing than Andy Gill." Having been named a massive influence by many artists including Bloc Party, R.E.M., The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, The Rapture, Franz Ferdinand and LCD Soundsystem, among hundreds of others, Gang of Four's legacy continues not by being frozen in a moment in time, but by constant evolution while remaining true to the original spirit of the band.

The band will tour in North America in March 2015 - current tour dates follow:
03-03 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
03-04 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
03-06 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
03-07 New York, NY - Irving Plaza (Tickets are $35)
03-09 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
03-10 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
03-12 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
03-13 Chicago, IL - Park West
03-14 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
03-15 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
03-17 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live Studio
03-18 Dallas, TX - Trees
03-23 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
03-24 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
03-25 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
03-28 Santa Ana, CA - Burgerama @ The Observatory

Links:
Gang of Four