Danny Mitchell and Ure wrote "Wastelands" together for the band
Modern Man. They started a songwriting partnership that produced five songs on "The Gift", including a reworking of "Wastelands", which was originally from the Midge Ure-produced Modern Man album
Concrete Scheme released in 1980. Ure had built his own new recording studio in his garden in
Chiswick, and recorded most of the album there. The title track was dedicated to the 19th-century Scottish architect
Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
The Gift features three instrumental tracks, which include "Edo", "The Chieftain" and "Antilles". These instrumentals were recorded on the Caribbean island of
Montserrat using a
Casio CZ-101. On "Edo", Ure played a
koto, which he purchased during Ultravox's first tour in Japan. Ure considered the idea of triggering the sound of a koto through a
Yamaha DX7 but he decided against it as he wanted to hear the sound of the fingers scraping the strings. Reflecting on
The Gift in 1989, Ure said that the album presented him with an opportunity to record instrumental music, which Ultravox largely refrained from. He called these efforts "quite successful" and was "quite pleased" with the result. At the end of October 1985 Ure started
The Gift World Tour with
Zal Cleminson on guitar, Kevin Powell on bass guitar, Daniel Mitchell and
Craig Armstrong on keyboards and
Kenny Hyslop on drums. In addition to shows in the UK and Europe, the tour encompassed four shows in United States and Australia, two in Canada, one in Tokyo, and ended with a closing show at
Wembley Arena 23 December 1985. Recordings can be found on the super deluxe edition of
The Gift released in September 2023. ==Track listing==