Wire are ‘23 Years Too Late’ — and it’s perfect

Some songs have a story. 23 Years Too Late by Wire has an odyssey.

The legendary post-punk architects are gearing up for Record Store Day 2026 with ‘Read & Burn 03+,’ an expanded reissue of their 2007 EP dropping April 18 via pinkflag — and to mark the occasion, they’ve shared a new video for the track that might just be the most fascinatingly layered thing in their entire catalogue. Watch it right here:

The clip, assembled from archive footage and photographs by director Malcolm Boyle, is a lovingly crafted time capsule — and fittingly so, because the song’s own backstory is basically a masterclass in how art folds back on itself across decades.

Here’s the short version: in October 2002, Wire performed at the Barbican in London as part of Iain Sinclair’s London Orbital — an event celebrating the M25 motorway. For the occasion, they reimagined their own 70s single Dot Dash under the alias Dip Flash. Then, as their headline tour rolled on, someone clocked that several of the cities on the routing had also been on the schedule of a cancelled 1979 tour. They were, someone remarked, 23 years too late. The phrase stuck.

By 2007, Dip Flash had been reborn entirely as 23 Years Too Late — built on a motorik beat, a double-speed chorus, live drums layered over what was fundamentally a machine-based piece, and new text drawn from Graham Lewis’s diary of that 2002 European tour. Getting that to work with a conventional band? Not exactly a walk in the park. Which is exactly the kind of creative puzzle Wire have always thrived on.

Frontman Colin Newman puts it best: the track’s uniqueness isn’t just about its length — it’s the combination of its genesis, its subject matter, and the rare thing of a song that means as much to the band as it does to the die-hards.

As for the video, Boyle offers a tantalising note: the footage is drawn from the upcoming documentary Wire – People in a Film, and he reckons the clips capture “the unique character and absurd humour of the band” better than almost anything else. Having seen what Wire are like, we’ll take that as high praise indeed.

‘Read & Burn 03+’ is also notable for being the last non-historic release from Wire’s original line-up — Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert and Robert Grey — making this reissue more than just a collector’s curio. It’s the closing chapter of an era, finally getting the vinyl treatment it deserves.

The 2026 edition expands the original four tracks to seven, with multiple versions of 23 Years Too Late across formats — including a 3:17 min 24 Years Later Edit for the uninitiated, and Dip Flash itself as a bonus track so you can hear the whole strange, brilliant journey from beginning to end.

‘Read & Burn 03+’ track list

Side One
23 Years Too Late – alternate intro (9:46)
Our Time (4:33)
No Warning Given (5:26)

Side Two
Desert Diving (5:31)
Our Time (original mix) (4:23)
Desert Diving (alt mix) (5:32)
Dip Flash (7:20)

CD / Digital
23 Years Too Late – original intro (9:44)
Our Time (4:33)
No Warning Given (5:26)
Desert Diving (5:31)
23 Years Too Late (24 Years Later Edit) (3:17)
Our Time (original mix) (4:23)
Desert Diving (alt mix) (5:32)
Dip Flash (7:20)

‘Read & Burn 03+’ drops April 18 via pinkflag. Find Wire on Spotify below and get your pre-orders sorted before Record Store Day snaps them up.