How Far?

"How Far?"
"How Far?"
Single by Gorillaz featuring Tony Allen and Skepta
from the album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (Deluxe edition)
Released	2 May 2020
Recorded	March 2020
Studio	Studio 13, London, UK
Genre	Hip hop; rock;
Length	2:46
Label	Parlophone; Warner;
Songwriter(s)	Damon Albarn; Tony Allen; Remi Kabaka Jr.; Joseph Adenuga;
Producer(s)	Gorillaz; Kabaka;
Gorillaz singles chronology
Skepta singles chronology
Tony Allen singles chronology
Audio
	"How Far?" on YouTube

"How Far?" is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz, featuring Tony Allen and Skepta. The track was released on 2 May 2020 without any prior announcement as the fourth single for Gorillaz' seventh studio album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez. It is part of the Song Machine project, a web series involving the ongoing release of various Gorillaz singles and music videos featuring different guest musicians over the course of 2020, though it is not considered an official episode of the series. The single marks the first posthumously released material featuring Tony Allen (which was released two days after Allen's death), as well as the final song to be recorded during Allen's lifetime.

Background

"How Far?" was written and recorded in the weeks prior to lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] It was the last song from the album to be recorded in studio before lockdown was ordered.^[4]

On 30 April 2020, Tony Allen, an afrobeat drummer featured on the song, died of abdominal aortic aneurysm at the age of 79.^[5] Allen had previously worked with Gorillaz founder, Damon Albarn, through a band called The Good, the Bad & the Queen, where both participated as members of through the 2000s.^[6]

Without any prior announcement, "How Far?" released a few days later on 2 May 2020, as a standalone audio with no accompanying video or episodic EP like other Song Machine releases. According to a press release, the song was released as an official tribute to Allen.^[7]