RZA is making an album with Paul Banks. Holed up in in RZA's home studio, the Wu-Tang Clan co-founder and Interpol frontman are collaborating on a musical "sandwich" – whenever they aren't just playing chess.
"I love Paul," RZA told Rolling Stone. "My manager came to me and said, 'Who do you want to do an album with?' I said, 'Well, Paul just has an energy about him'."
They have been working on the project for six months, securing a record deal with Warner Bros. "[Paul] just left my house. He came and spent two weeks at my house – I have a guesthouse in my studio," RZA explained. "We play chess together and just hang out … I think if we put our sandwich together it will be great."
Banks has already made a lot of music away from Interpol, including an EP and solo album under the pseudonym Julian Plenti. He has also released one LP under his real name and, this February, a free mixtape of hip-hop instrumentals.
But the collaboration marks a new departure for both men. "We went to the studio and we started writing songs and they sound very, very different than what I do, but very unique and very peculiar," said RZA. "That's where my heart is at musically."
Apart from making movie soundtracks, RZA hasn't put out any of his own music since 2008's Digi Snacks. That may change before the end of the year, when the Wu-Tang Clan are rumoured to be releasing their first album since 2007's 8 Diagrams. The LP's prospective title is A Better Tomorrow.
