12" EP Red vinyl, Limited Edition
Transgressive Records (2024) UK, EU, US
In 2016, Foals singer Yannis Philippakis was offered the opportunity of a lifetime: a two-day session with the great drummer Tony Allen. The pair quickly established an intuitive telepathy, and the music, germinated from jams and loops, and was complemented by a unique atmosphere of two cultures and creatives colliding. 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 near complete songs, which were further developed during a couple subsequent sessions. But between scheduling issues and Covid restrictions, the recordings were not completed before Tony passed away in April 2020. Yannis felt a deep duty to complete the project, not only as a bittersweet way to honor and celebrate his old friend, but also because Tony had been so eager to share these songs with the world. The result is this five-track EP, Lagos Paris London, under the Yannis & The Yaw umbrella.