Empire Ants
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| "Empire Ants" | |
|---|---|
 Artwork used for the LP release of Doncamatic. | |
| Song by Gorillaz and Yukimi Nagano | |
| from the album Plastic Beach | |
| Released | 3 March 2010 |
| Studio | Studio 13, London |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:43 |
| Label | |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) | Gorillaz |
| Music video | |
| "Empire Ants" on YouTube | |
"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.
Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn was first introduced to Little Dragon through his partner Suzi Winstanley, who was a fan of the band's music.[1] 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 wasn’t as charged as I perhaps might have been if I knew who they were. Everyone was telling me it was a big deal."[2]
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.[3]
Personnel
- Damon Albarn – vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitars
- Yukimi Nagano – vocals
- Fredrik Walin – keyboards
- Håkan Wirenstand – keyboards
- Erik Bodin – drum programming
- Simon Tong – guitar
- Howie Weinberg – mastering
- Jason Cox – mixing, recording
- Stephen Sedgwick – recording, programming
