In terms of unexpected musical collaborations, it doesn’t get much more interesting than the frontman of British indie rockers Foals, Yannis Philippakis, teaming up with pioneering Afrobeat drummer, the late Tony Allen (best known for his work with Fela Kuti in the 1970s). This came about in 2016 when Yannis, who had been a fan of Allen for years, was offered by a mutual friend the opportunity to work with the drummer during a two-day session. Yannis jumped at the chance to head to a studio in Paris and see what they could come up with. Joined by Tony’s regular collaborators - Vincent Taeger (percussion, marimba), Vincent Taurelle (keys) and Ludovic Bruni (bass, guitar) - that first meeting resulted in a handful of songs, which were further developed during a few subsequent sessions. However, between scheduling conflicts and Covid restrictions, the recordings were never fully completed before Allen passed away in 2020 at the age of 79.
Today, this collaboration has come to be known as Yannis & The Yaw, and the songs finally earned their release as the Lagos Paris London EP via Transgressive Records on August 30, 2024. The five tunes on the EP offer a unique blend of Yannis’ soaring vocals, the crisp, complex drumming of Allen, electronic elements, horns, and even some distorted rock guitar riffs.
“There was an imperative to finish it in a way that I had never felt with another record. There was a deep duty to do it, to finish it as well as possible, and to pay respect to him by getting it out there,” explains Yannis. “Going through some of the drum takes was a moving experience because those recordings were some of the last pieces of music he ever worked on. There’s an eternal quality to these drum tracks, and you feel a continuity of his life and energy through them. He wanted people to hear this, and it’s good to be able to do it for him - but of course it’s slightly bittersweet.”
The EP opens with the rousing single “Walk Through Fire,” an energetic rocker that has been gaining support from KXT, WYEP, WRLT, KCMP and many others. Another highlight is the funky and soulful “Under The Strikes,” as well as “Rain Can’t Reach Us,” a song about the panic and futility of trying to escape from the apocalypse that builds to a powerful crescendo.
“We actually referred to ‘Rain Can't Reach Us’ as ‘The Tornado’ for a long time because it feels like a gale blowing through your house and it's just cool to hear Tony at the heart of that,” Yannis says. “There’s a chance it could have become Foals track, but sharing that idea with Tony made it become this other thing. I think that's really exciting, it's like putting in random coordinates, getting in your car and driving and not knowing where you're going to show up. You could be led anywhere.”
Unfortunately there were only five songs borne of this collaboration, but Yannis is hoping to continue the tradition with other musicians, and he will play four live shows around the release of the EP. The band that Yannis has assembled for The Yaw’s upcoming shows promises to capture the flavor of Allen’s spirit with the help of Taurelle and Taeger, both of whom performed on the EP, as well as Dave Okumu (guitar) and Seye Adelekan (bass). Yannis & The Yaw will celebrate Tony’s life with their debut show at Belgium’s Crammerock Festival on September 7, and then they will play headline shows in Amsterdam, Paris and London. Hopefully there will be more genre-blending music coming from this band in the future.
Photo by Kit Monteith
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