Gorillaz pay tribute to the late Afrobeat legend Tony Allen — Damon Albarn’s band mate in the Good, the Bad and the Queen — in the animated band’s new track “How Far?” featuring Allen and Skepta.
“The track was written and recorded with Skepta in London just before lockdown and is being shared immediately as a tribute to the spirit of a great man, Tony Allen,” a press release states”.
“How Far?,” the latest installment in Gorillaz’ Song Machine series, “was written and recorded with Skepta in London just before lockdown and is being shared immediately as a tribute to the spirit of a great man, Tony Allen,” the band said Saturday. The track is built on stuttering percussion, orchestral chords, and lead by Skepta’s rhymes. In addition, Tony Allen’s vocals come in around the 2-minute mark.
“There is no end,” Allen said in a statement shared by Gorillaz. “I want to take care of youngsters – they have messages and I want to bring them on my beat.” Allen, Fela Kuti’s longtime drummer and the architect of Afropop’s polyrhythmic sound, died on the 30th of April at the age of 79.
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