Posthumous album from The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie coming next month

A first posthumous album from The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie is set to be released next month.

‘Away Is Mine’ was recorded a few months before Downie’s death in 2017 aged 53, and features 10 songs recorded both acoustically and electrically.

Downie died in October 2017 surrounded by his children and family. The singer had been diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, which was discovered after he suffered a seizure in December 2015.

Listen to two songs from the upcoming album, which lands on October 6, below.

In a statement about the new album, Downie’s brother said: “This won’t be his last release, but these are the final ten songs Gord sang before he passed away. The last time he ever sang into a mic. That’s pretty special to us.”

“There really wasn’t a plan to make a record,” added co-writer Josh Finlayson. “The whole thing was that I knew this was a great way to spend time with Gord, listening to music, talking about music, talking about things that we’d always talked about. And this just evolved pretty organically.”

Following Downie’s death, fellow Canadians Japandroids covered covered The Tragically Hip’s track ‘Nautical Disaster’ at a show in Toronto. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also gave a tearful tribute to the star.

“Gord knew this day was coming – his response was to spend this precious time as he always had – making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss… on the lips,” a statement said at the time of Downie’s death.

Downie founded The Tragically Hip – often known as The Hip – in 1984 in Kingston, Ontario with Gord Sinclair, Rob Baker, Johnny Fay and Paul Langlois. They went on to become one of Canada’s most popular groups of all time.