The tenth album from Tony Allen, the Afrobeat drummer labelled ‘legendary’ for both co-creating a musical style with Fela Kuti and playing a kit with all four of his limbs working – often in different time signatures – at once. Having lent his distinctive beat to several leftfield collaborations including The Good, the Bad & the Queen and Rocket Juice & The Moon with his mate Damon Albarn (here on voice and synths for the beautiful ‘Go Back’) Allen is reclaiming old territory and taking it forward like a boss. There are distant echoes of Art Blakey in Allen's forceful hi-hat, just as there's a sort of spacey, Sun Ra-like Afrofuturism to the storming instrumental, ‘Ewa’. Among the horns, guitars and Allen's big but steady grooves are innovative flourishes courtesy of the album's producers, French trio the Jazzbastards – including some smart vocodering of his deep bass vocals. Smart, rhythmic, mesmerising, Film of Life is the legend's best release yet.