The long awaited debut single from the collaborative project of Interpol‘s Paul Banks and RZA aka Banks & Steelz is finally out in the world. It’s been a long time coming, having first announced it way back in 2013, but now the world’s collective patience has been rewarded. And, as if it couldn’t get any better having the two of them working with each other, they’ve also tapped none other than fellow Wu-Tang Clan member, Ghostface Killah.
Premiering on Zane Lowe‘s Beats 1 show, the song Love & War showed that it was more than worth the wait this morning. Starting off with a trumpet call, guitars come in before the funky beat with piercing drums rings out. The hook, “If all is fair in love and war, what are you keeping score for?” buzzes before the verses fire hard and fast. Featuring vocals from Banks and RZA as well, the three create an absolute ripper of a tune with ample influence from their previous groups (with a very Wu-tang beat).
Taken from a forthcoming album of the same name, if excitement was high before this song came out, it’s at breaking point right about now. Keeping their cards close to their chest, Banks & Steelz are doing one hell of a job of keeping everyone extremely hyped for this, drip-feeding us information only when we really, really need it. Take a listen to Love & War below!
Image: Pitchfork