Sometimes the music world hands you exactly what you need. Last night at London’s Koko, Flea was deep into his solo tour when Thom Yorke wandered onstage for a surprise appearance. They knocked out “Traffic Lights,” the recent collaboration that appears on Flea’s album Honora, and then slid into a cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1977 classic “Got to Give It Up.” If you were in that crowd, you basically won the night.
This wasn’t some random cameo. Flea and Yorke have history. They performed together as Atoms for Peace back in the day, and there’s clearly a creative shorthand between them that makes these moments feel less like special events and more like old friends jamming in a living room, just with better speakers.
According to Rolling Stone reporting, “Traffic Lights” was co-written by Yorke and Josh Johnson. When the track dropped, Flea explained that the song reminded him of Atoms for Peace and that he sent it to Yorke specifically because he knew his sensibility would click with it. That instinct paid off. There’s something about Yorke’s delivery on this track that feels like he’s processing the chaos of modern life through that distinctive warble of his. He sings about living in the “upside down,” about sorting through the noise and the nonsense. It’s the kind of lyric that could feel heavy-handed in the wrong hands, but Yorke makes it feel like a quiet confession.
Flea described him in the statement as “the warmest, free flowing, jamming motherf*cker,” which is about as Flea a compliment as you can get. The affection between them is palpable, and it translates into the performance.
The Honora album itself is worth a closer look. It’s a six-song collection featuring original material alongside interpretations of everyone from George Clinton and Eddie Hazel to Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor. There’s also a cover of Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman” in there. The whole project grew out of Flea’s renewed relationship with the trumpet, an instrument he picked up again a few years back with a simple promise to himself: play every day, no matter what. He talked about it on The Tonight Show, saying it wasn’t about making a record initially. It was about the process, the discipline of showing up and learning. That kind of commitment tends to produce something with actual heart behind it, which is probably why the album resonates the way it does.
What struck me most about this Koko show is the context. This was Flea’s only solo gig in the U.K. for this tour. He brought out Yorke. They played new material and a Marvin Gaye cover in a venue that holds maybe a couple thousand people. There’s something satisfying about seeing artists of this caliber operate in a space that still feels intimate, where the audience can actually sense the spontaneity.
We don’t always get to see our favorite musicianscollaborate in these low-key settings. Usually it’s festival stages or award show surprises that feel staged. This felt different. This felt like two artists who actually enjoy making music together, and the audience just happened to be there to witness it.
