From Lagos to London: Yannis & The Yaw and Tony Allen Create Unstoppable Sonic Fusion

The newest single from Yannis & The Yaw, ‘Rain Can’t Reach Us’, is reminiscent of a summer storm. Starting with a tropical electronic rhythm, the track descends into a deluge of beats supplied by legendary drummer Tony Allen, and a flood of warm vocals from Foals frontman and founding member Yannis Philippakis.

The story of this collaboration began in 2016 when Allen and Philippakis met to work together on a record in Paris. The two artists soon became unstoppable, creating a handful of songs that had cultures colliding; Tony Allen’s signature Afrobeat drums blended with elements of rock, funk, jazz and more to create a sound with undeniable energy and spirit.

After the initial recording sessions, the songs remained unfinished. Due to scheduling issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, the pair were never able to wrap up the music they had made together. In April 2020, Tony Allen sadly passed away at the age of 79 after a long and well-established career as one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre, and with a roster of great musical collaborations under his belt. Philippakis felt it was his duty to complete the project that the two artists had started together, resulting in the creation of a 5 track EP, ‘Lagos Paris London’, named after both of the musicians’ home cities and the city where the record was born.

‘Rain Can’t Reach Us’ follows ‘Under the Strikes’ and ‘Walk Through Fire’- the first two singles of the release. Yannis & The Yaw is Philippakis’ first musical side project, and we are excited for him to return to collaborating with other artists in the future.

‘Lagos Paris London’ is due to be released on August 30th.

Tallulah Fox

@tallulah.fox

Image: ‘Lagos Paris London’ Official EP Cover