Foals’ Yannis Philippakis has shared the latest song from his new project with the late Tony Allen, Yannis & The Yaw. Listen to ‘Under The Strikes’ below.
Philippakis unveiled the project in April with the lead single ‘Walk Through Fire’, and both songs are now set to feature on the Yannis & The Yaw EP ‘Lagos Paris London’, released on August 30 via Transgressive. You can pre-order/pre-save it here.
The singer has been teasing the project for some years, first revealing news of sessions with legendary drummer Allen to NME back in 2017. The pioneering Afrobeat musician, who played with both Fela Kuti and The Good, The Bad & The Queen, died in 2020 at the age of 79 but the music had been in development for some time ahead of his passing.
‘Under The Strikes’ provides the latest taste of the EP, a thrilling blend of highlife rhythms and a cascading brass section, with Philippakis’ high-pitched vocals dancing in the top of the mix. Watch the song’s video here:
Speaking about the political worldview that underpins the song’s message, Philippakis has said: “‘Under The Strikes’ was inspired by walking to the studio during Paris’s refuse strikes, where trash was piled three stories high. I was fascinated by the idea that we were born into the greatest period of history and yet, things were disintegrating at the same time: we were finding the positives were mirrored by new lows and social disintegration.”
“So that’s the backdrop but there’s also a kind of coda at the end, a sense of farewell almost, which felt really poignant as it was the last thing we would work on of Tony’s.”
‘Lagos Paris London’ also features contributions from Allen’s regular collaborators Vincent Taeger (percussion, marimba), Vincent Taurelle (keys) and Ludovic Bruni (bass, guitar).
With a yaw defined as “the twisting or oscillation of a moving ship or aircraft about a vertical axis”, this shall be the first of future projects with an ever-revolving set of collaborators.
NME spoke to Philippakis in Damon Albarn’s 13 Studios in West London earlier this year to discuss finally being able to release the songs he recorded with Allen.
“I feel unburdened now,” he said. “There has been this unfinished business that has been occupying my vision for the future. I had to finish it. Especially after Tony passed away and in the midst of COVID; it became much more of a serious project. We had to try and do it justice. It feels good, and I just people to hear it and for it to be out.”
Philippakis also discussed how being in Paris during the strikes had an impact on the music, with Allen encouraging him to write lyrics that were “more socially-engaged”.
“You couldn’t shy away from it, and Tony encouraged me not to,” he said. “There were literally mice peaking out at you from garbage piles on the way to the studio. That sense of combat and social decay permeates the record. By virtue of it being a collaboration between the two of us, I probably felt empowered to write a certain type of lyric that perhaps wouldn’t feel quite right within Foals. It has that Parisian protest spirit to it.”
“There should be a feeling of galvanisation, and that all isn’t lost. You can create beauty around and outside of things being on fire. The record is soundtracking this feeling of precipice. It doesn’t impart a specific message other than being the soundtrack to the protest. It isn’t didactic in any way – that isn’t my style.”
Yannis & The Yaw will play at the Nice Jazz Festival on August 20, followed by headline shows at Amsterdam’s Paradiso on September 10, Paris’ La Cigale on September 11 and a sold out show at London’s KOKO on September 13.