Somewhere in the archive of one of popular music’s most celebrated recording sessions, four songs waited fifty years for ears. On Sept. 28, 2026, that wait ended. Stevie Wonder released Songs in the Key of Life: The EP — four tracks drawn directly from the original 1976 album sessions. These aren’t alternate mixes or live reinterpretations. They are actual compositions from the creative period that produced a double album widely regarded as one of Wonder’s defining works. That they didn’t make the final cut says everything about how much he had to work with.
What’s Actually on the EP
Four tracks, nearly 20 minutes of music that has been sitting unreleased since Gerald Ford was president.
The EP runs as follows:
- “It’s Easier” — 5:09 (an upbeat breakup song; leaving framed as strength, not failure)
- “My Life Story of Love” — 3:59 (co-written with Susaye Greene, former member of the Supremes and Motown songwriter)
- “I Can See the Sun in Late December” — 4:37
- “I’m Into Livin’” — 5:45
Production notes: All four tracks written and produced by Wonder; mixed by original session engineers John Fischbach and Adante.
“It’s Easier” is the most immediately readable entry — an upbeat breakup song built around the idea that ending a relationship beats enduring emotional pain. The characterization alone signals these weren’t afterthoughts. They were deliberate creative decisions that simply didn’t fit a double album already bursting at the seams.
The Curation Detail That Actually Matters
Wonder personally selected these recordings, making this a considered archival act rather than a vault clearance sale.
Wonder chose these four tracks from an extensive session archive. In a statement, he said the songs reflected what he was “feeling and discovering” while making the album, and that they now had “an opportunity to become part of listeners’ lives.” That framing matters. It positions the EP as an extension of a creative moment, not a marketing exercise.
The engineering continuity reinforces that point. Fischbach and Adante — who worked the original sessions (Adante credited on the 1976 LP as Gary Olazabal) — returned to mix the EP. Their involvement deliberately connects these recordings, technically and historically, to the 1976 album. That continuity is what separates a legitimate archival release from a legacy cash-out. The stakes of preserving such music recordings are never abstract.
The Tour That Comes Next
The EP arrives ahead of a 50th-anniversary tour opening Oct. 13, 2026, in Birmingham, England.
A full anniversary tour follows, moving through Europe and the UK after Birmingham. Whether the EP tracks will appear in the live set remains unconfirmed. Worth sitting with before those shows: “My Life Story of Love” carries a co-writing credit from Susaye Greene — a former Supreme helping shape a Wonder recording that remained unheard by the public until now.
These four songs are available on major streaming services. After approximately fifty years, you get to hear what didn’t make one of music’s most celebrated albums. That opportunity doesn’t come around often.
