This is the tenth and final studio album by Gang of Four. Andy shared production duties on the album with Ben Hillier, Ross Orton and DECOY, with John Sterry on lead vocals, Thomas McNeice on bass and drums recorded by Tobias Humble and Jonny Finnigan. Amy Love from Nova Twins provided the majority of the backing vocals. It was released on Andy’s Gill Music label.

In conceiving the album, Andy wanted to create a more accessible set of songs with a view to achieving success on the radio, something which had eluded Gang of Four for a long time. He wanted to make something more ‘pop’. So in a deliberate move, Andy choose to collaborate to create the album, both with the co-writing and in bringing in external producers and mixers to craft a more commercially accessible sound.

Andy co-wrote several songs with production team DECOY, who have had a lot of success writing for and with pop artists. One of those co-writes, Paper Thin, became Gang of Four’s first playlisted single at influential UK alternative radio station BBC 6 Music, triggering a resurgence in radio play for Gang of Four’s catalogue.

Andy on the album title:

“People are looking at their lives trying to figure out what it is that they’re supposed to be doing. They’re thinking: ‘Am I happy? Am I not happy? Am I achieving happiness? Do I have fulfilment?’ and at the same time feeling that the world is uncaring and it’s difficult… [The title] works on different levels. You never expect Gang of Four to be very optimistic, do you?”

Andy on the cover art, which he designed:

“The more I do this music creation thing, the less I’m inclined to explain it. Gang of Four perhaps did a little too much explaining in the past. I feel that’s the job of critics. So all I really want to say about the imagery is that it has a number of meanings and references, not all of them immediately obvious. It’s supposed to be playful, a little game. The world can be savage and it can hurt. We take the knocks and we try and get on with it.

Gang of Four has always attempted to be truthful. Now we’re trying to be truthful in an age where nobody believes anything, not even the truth. Happiness is always an odd one; so difficult to pin down. Our personal lives are always a mixture – sad parts, sometimes outright tragedy or joy.  But our youngest years we were invested in the idea of linear progress, the idea that whatever happened to us, things were getting better: the world would be less sexist, less racist. It seems that history is quite capable of twists and U-turns.”

Album reviews:

“The album is as intense as any ever released on their discography. Gang of Four has always been unafraid to share their dissatisfaction with the world’s condition.  This outing shows they are even more disturbed by our further slide down the drain and they will not go quietly, nor would we want them to.” – XS-Noise, March 13th, 2019.

“Andy Gill’s guitar work is still distinctive and angular on tracks like ‘Toreador’ and ‘Don’t Ask Me’, but the band seem intent on lending the old with the new.” – Uncut, May 2019.

“The Leeds-launched provocateurs still sound sharp and lean” – Classic Rock Magazine, May 2019.

“Taut, effective music that honours Gang of Four’s heritage but succeeds on its own terms. Global crisis is good for something after all. 4 out of 5 stars” – Mark Deming, All Music, April 23^rd, 2019.