'Secret Agent', a majestic slice of hardcore roots Afrobeat, is Allen's debut for World Circuit and his first release since he became a founder member of The Good The Bad and The Queen. Tony Allen has long been acknowledged as Africa's finest kit drummer and one of the continent's most influential musicians, he possesses a unique and mighty sound. Together with Fela Kuti (with whom he played for 15 years) Allen co-created Afrobeat - the hard driving, horns rich, funk-infused, politically insurrectionary style which became such a dominant force in African music and such an influence worldwide. Allen is today revered as its seminal living figure. 'Secret Agent' produced by Allen himself, was recorded with his hard-schooled touring band which comprises players from Nigeria, Cameroon, Martinique and France. The music is foursquare in the Afrobeat tradition - nagging tenor guitar, funky keyboards, soulful call and response vocals, and fat, full throated, hard riffing horns - with a few twists. And at its heart, of course, is the beat itself, even more prominent now than it was in Fela Kuti's legendary band Afrika 70. Allen drives the music on, straight as an arrow, in a loose-limbed ragged shuffle, fusing the cross rhythms into one irresistible forward motion. The vocals are handled by the Lagos based Nigerian singers Ayo, King Odudu, Switch, Kefee Obareki and Wura Samba. Allen himself takes lead vocals on "Secret Agent" and "Elewon Po."