When Foals were writing and recording their second album ‘Total Life Forever’, Yannis Philippakis became fascinated with Fela Kuti and then his drummer, Tony Allen. In 2016, the two had the chance to collaborate with Yannis heading to a studio in Paris filled with African percussion instruments and analog equipment.
Scheduling conflicts prevented the two meeting as often as they’d like and when Tony sadly died at the age of 79 in April 2020, Yannis was determined to release their recordings. The result is ‘Lagos Paris London’, five tracks that bridge the gap between Afrobeat and math rock.
The result of a jamming session during their first meet, ‘Walk Through the Fire’ finds Yannis singing about ‘being between the devil and the deep blue sea’ as he looks for a place to find his own while Tony’s distinctive, percussive drums drive the song along with force. It’s the perfect backing to Yannis scream of ‘The city burns. Say my name’. ‘Rain Can’t Reach Us’ draws you in with its talk of ‘troubled times’, layered instruments and hypnotic effects, while ‘Night Green, Heavy Love’ is a back-to-basics song that was recorded in one take. Yannis almost delivers the first verse with a hush while Tony veers from sparse and understated to driving an forceful.
‘Under the Strikes’ opens with a blast of brass and will have your toes tapping in no time, sounding like something you’d find – and love – on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival: ‘I was born under the strikes, I lost my way’. The closing ‘Clementine’ is a collaboration with the studio team recorded after Tony had gone home. Although it has a joyous sound, the lyrics have a tinge of sadness as a partnership becomes a fond and beloved memory: ‘Summers lost and summers past. We were never meant to last’.
This captures the power of this EP. Two worlds colliding that shouldn’t work but it just does – it’s a fitting finale to Tony Allen’s incredible career.
