Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 2010
Empire Ants
Buy Empire Ants now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Empire Ants
| alt =
| border = yes
| type =
| artist = Gorillaz and Yukimi Nagano
| album = Plastic Beach
| released = 3 March 2010
| format =
| recorded =
| studio = Studio 13, London
| venue =
| genre = * Electro-funk
* alternative dance
| length = 4:43
| label =
*Parlophone
*Virgin
| writer =
| producer = Gorillaz
| misc =
}}
"'Empire Ants'" is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz, released on their third studio album 'Plastic Beach'. It features guest vocals and instrumentation from Yukimi Nagano, the vocalist of the trip hop band Little Dragon.
Overview
Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn was first introduced to Little Dragon through his partner Suzi Winstanley, who was a fan of the band's music. Yukimi Nagano had not known of Gorillaz prior to collaborating, and was initially ambivalent towards the idea of collaboration; when Nagano's manager explained that Albarn was a member of English rock band Blur, she expressed mild surprise that Albarn still made music. Nagano later explained: "I definitely wasnt as charged as I perhaps might have been if I knew who they were. Everyone was telling me it was a big deal."
Nagano and Albarn spent multiple days at Studio 13, Albarn's personal studio in London, England; Nagano's vocal contributions to "Empire Ants" and "To Binge" were recorded during this time. Albarn played several instrumental tracks for Nagano, allowing her to choose which would be used for the collaboration. Nagano enjoyed collaborating with Albarn, praising both the diversity of the tracks and the organic nature of the recording process.
Personnel
*Damon Albarn vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitars
*Yukimi Nagano vocals
*Fredrik Walin keyboards
*Hkan Wirenstand keyboards
*Erik Bodin drum programming
*Simon Tong guitar
*Howie Weinberg mastering
*Jason Cox mixing, recording
*Stephen Sedgwick recording, programming
Reception
"Empire Ants" has received generally positive reviews. BBC Music described the song as "a trickling ballad to rank alongside Blurs best", and Pitchfork characterized Little Dragon's contributions to 'Plastic Beach' as "airy, elusive, and amazingly beautiful."
Live performances
"Empire Ants" was performed live throughout the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour. Both Nagano and Little Dragon bassist Fredrik Wallin toured alongside Gorillaz for the North American leg of the tour, with the remainder of Little Dragon joining on for the European and Oceanic legs. The song was also performed at Coachella 2010, an event which Nagano would later claim was a turning point for her as an artist.
For the Humanz Tour, Nagano reunited with Gorillaz to perform "Empire Ants" at the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco in 11 August 2017, her first performance of the song in nearly 7 years.
References
Category:Gorillaz songs
Category:Songs written by Damon Albarn
Category:2010 songs
Category:Alternative dance songs
Category:Electro songs
Buy Empire Ants now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 2010