Yannis & the Yaw - Lagos Paris London

Consisting of five songs built around some of the last music the late Tony Allen worked on, that ‘Lagos Paris London’ is somewhat scrapbook-like in nature should come as little surprise. Neither too, should the fact that the majority bear more than a passing resemblance to The Yaw’s titular Yannis’ agitator: beyond the obvious familiar vocal, there’s those mathy guitar lines (opener ‘Walk Through Fire’), soaring subtlety (‘Rain Can’t Reach Us’) and tension (closer ‘Clementine’ makes a case for being Sunday Afternoon Foals, so close is it in style, if not delivery). So it’s in the less expected that ‘Lagos Paris London’ offers most; the sheer softness of ‘Under The Strikes’ displays a vocal turn that in other contexts may prove completely unrecognisable; and in particular the introspective, sparse yet groove-laden ‘Night Green, Heavy Love’, on which a staccato bassline contrasts with Yannis’ high-pitched vocal to create a wholly disorienting mood.