When Yannis Phillippakis, best known for being the frontman of Foals, was invited to meet the iconic Tony Allen (who passed in 2020) he wasn’t entirely sure why he was going to the smoke-filled studio Paris. In a recent interview with Clash, Yannis spoke about not knowing the purpose of the visit, but being a huge fan and being eager to work with Tony. He wasn’t sure if he was going to sing on some tracks or if there was something else in store for him, so he packed his guitar and a loop pedal and off he went.
With this project, Yannis and the Yaw, there is a unique meeting of minds which was primarily driven by a love of the music they were making, that the resulting five tracks on ‘Lagos Paris London’ are breathtakingly impressive.
Tony Allen was in his seventies, while Yannis was in his late twenties, when they first met through mutual friends and began working together. ‘Lagos Paris London’ in its name represents the different places both collaborators have lived and worked throughout their lives.
Believe it or not, opening track ‘Walk Through Fire’ (and previous single) was the first track the two of them worked on together during a jam session in Paris. In the opening few seconds, of course, you hear an Afrobeat influence yet when Yannis sings there is still a distinct indie sensibility to the record – which is fair enough, you wouldn’t expect Yannis to shake off a sound he has spent years cultivating. The two sounds – Afrobeat and indie – complement each other in this instance.
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Yannis’ vocals seem especially powerful on this body of work. Yannis said: “I had come right off tour and my voice was feeling really strong. I remember thinking, ‘I can kind of sing anything’ and I was also in the room playing it with Tony and maybe there was almost an element of being emboldened by that.”
If the drum beats on this track weren’t moving enough, they turned out to be some of the last ever recorded by Tony Allen.
This EP goes from strength to strength as we move from ‘Walk Through Fire’ straight into ‘Rain Can’t Reach Us’. If we were to pick a ‘favourite’ track from the ‘Lagos Paris London’ EP, it would undoubtedly be this one as it builds from quiet to loud with it socially engaged lyrics. When the beat kicks in, like ‘Walk Through Fire’, it is so powerful its almost transcendental. This track was originally referred to as ‘The Tornado,’ informally, and you can clearly see why!
‘Under The Strikes’ – despite its name – has a playful feel, while Yannis sings about feeling that he “lost his mind”. It is just another example of how unique this EP feels.
To end the track, ‘Clementine’ “in summer sun” has a lighter sound. It is a nice way to wrap up the otherwise- quite-heavy-feeling-EP.
‘Lagos Paris London’ is evidence of how much blood, sweat and tears went into the making of the record, but also of how well-connected Yannis and Tony Allen felt while working together. The result defies expectations in the best possible way.
‘Lagos Paris London’ is the first EP from the Yannis and the Yaw project and we hope there will be more to come from them. In the meantime, we really recommend giving this EP a spin.
8/10
Words: Narzra Ahmed
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