{{Short description|2020 single by Gorillaz featuring Tony Allen and Skepta}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{for|the Martina McBride song|How Far}} {{Infobox song | name = How Far? | cover = How_Far?_(Gorillaz_song).jpg | alt = | border = yes | type = single | artist = Gorillaz featuring Tony Allen and Skepta | album = Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (Deluxe edition) | released = {{Start date|2020|05|02|df=yes}} | recorded = March 2020 | studio = Studio 13, London, UK | venue = | genre = * Hip hop<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2020/10/album-review-gorillaz-song-machine-season-one/|title=Gorillaz Continue to Exude Colorful Chemistry on Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez: Review|website=Consequence Of Sound|date=20 October 2020 }}</ref> * rock<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.euphoriazine.com/blog/2020/05/music/tracks-gorillaz-tony-allen-skepta-how-far|title=Gorillaz, Tony Allen, Skepta – How Far?|website=Euphoria|date=10 May 2020 }}</ref> | length = 2:46 | label = {{hlist|Parlophone|Warner}} | writer = {{hlist|Damon Albarn|Tony Allen|Remi Kabaka Jr.|Joseph Adenuga}} | producer = {{hlist|Gorillaz|Remi Kabaka Jr.}} | chronology = Gorillaz | prev_title = Aries | prev_year = 2020 | next_title = Friday 13th | next_year = 2020 | misc = {{Extra chronology | artist = Skepta | type = single | prev_title = Waze | prev_year = 2020 | title = How Far? | year = 2020 | next_title = Show Out | next_year = 2020 }} {{Extra chronology | artist = Tony Allen | type = single | prev_title = Gun to the Head | prev_year = 2018 | title = How Far? | year = 2020 | next_title = | next_year = }} {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|GiWduWEtma4|"How Far?"}}}} }} "'''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''. The song was part of the ''Song Machine'' project, a web series which involved the release of various Gorillaz tracks 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 (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.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/gorillaz-tony-allen-song-how-far-993249/|title= Gorillaz Pay Tribute to Tony Allen With New Song 'How Far?' |magazine=Rolling Stone|date=2 May 2020|access-date=14 June 2020}}</ref> It was the last song from the album to be recorded in studio before lockdown was ordered.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viHbsloH5wMrM|title= Damon Albarn breaks down Gorillaz 'Song Machine' track by track X-Posure Radio X|website=YouTube|date=November 3, 2020}}</ref>
On 30 April 2020, Tony Allen, an afrobeat drummer featured on the song, died of abdominal aortic aneurysm at the age of 79.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine |author1=Daniel Kreps |author2=Elias Leight |title=Tony Allen, Pioneering Afrobeat Drummer, Dead at 79 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tony-allen-afrobeat-drummer-fela-kuti-dead-992588/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=1 May 2020 |date=April 30, 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NME.com 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.nme.com/news/blur/23752|title=Damon Albarn forms new band|date=28 July 2006|work=NME|access-date=28 July 2006}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/gorillaz-share-new-song-how-far-with-tony-allen-and-skepta-listen/|title=Gorillaz Share New Song "How Far?" With Tony Allen and Skepta: Listen|website=Pitchfork|date=2 May 2020|access-date=14 June 2020}}</ref>
==Track listing== {{tracklist | total_length = 2:46 | extra_column = Producers | title1 = How Far? | note1 = featuring Tony Allen and Skepta | writer1 = {{hlist|Damon Albarn|Remi Kabaka Jr.|Allen|Joseph Adenuga}} | extra1 = {{hlist|Gorillaz|Kabaka}} | length1 = 2:46 }}
==Personnel==
'''Gorillaz''' * Damon Albarn – instrumentation, director, keyboards, guitar, melodica * Jamie Hewlett – artwork, character design, video direction * Stephen Sedgwick – mixing engineer, engineering * Remi Kabaka Jr. – percussion * John Davis – mastering engineer * Samuel Egglenton – engineering
'''Additional musicians''' * Tony Allen – vocals, drums * Skepta – vocals * Kotono Sato – violin * Stella Page – viola * Ciara Ismail – violin * Izzi Dunn – cello '''Additional artwork''' * Bernard Benant – photography
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Song Machine}} {{Gorillaz}} {{Skepta}}
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Category:2020 singles Category:2020 songs Category:Gorillaz songs Category:Skepta songs Category:Song Machine Category:Songs released posthumously Category:Songs written by Damon Albarn Category:Songs written by Remi Kabaka Jr. Category:Songs written by Skepta Category:Parlophone singles Category:Warner Records singles Category:English rock songs