Foals' Yannis Philippakis launches Yannis & The Yaw project with late Tony Allen

By Josh Johnson

April 16, 2024 at 11:30 am EDT

Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis has launched a new project called Yannis & The Yaw, featuring music he recorded with the late drummer Tony Allen.

The debut Yannis & The Yaw EP, Lagos Paris London, will be released August 30. You can listen to the single "Walk Through Fire" now via digital outlets.

"There's an eternal quality to these drum tracks, and you feel a continuity of [Allen's] life and energy through them," Philippakis says. "He wanted people to hear this, and it's good to be able to do it for him — but of course it's slightly bittersweet."

Allen played in Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti's band and frequently worked with Damon Albarn. He died in 2020.

Foals' most recent album is 2022's Life Is Yours.