Tekken 2

Album: My Big Day (2023)
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Songfacts®:

  • Tekken 2 is a fighting video game developed and published by Namco. It was originally released for arcades in 1995 and ported to the PlayStation a year later. This joyously funky track captures the camaraderie of Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman's arcade-filled youth. It also conveys the idea of letting go of negative mindsets as we get older.

    "Not sweating the small stuff much anymore," Steadman expanded to The Independent. "Realizing that it's so toxic to dwell on that stuff. Trying not to worry so much, because everyone else is just worrying about themselves as well. No one's worrying about you, even though you think they are. We're all very self-centered, aren't we?"
  • Superstar Chaka Khan adds her trademark uplifting vocals to "Tekken 2." Steadman told The Guardian it was his friend Damon Albarn who suggested the R&B legend after Steadman explained to The Blur and Gorillaz frontman that there was a section he was trying to sing in a certain way and "just wasn't nailing it." He asked him: "'Can you think of anyone who would be amazing? And he surprised me by saying: 'Just ask Chaka Khan.'"

    A few e-mails later, Steadman flew to Los Angeles for a session at an upmarket studio near Khan's home. He admitted he was rather unprepared. "There was this massive studio in LA that she requested – state of the art, enormous mixing desk," Steadman chuckled to The Independent, "and I just turned up with my little Windows laptop, plugged in, didn't really use any of it. She was really down to earth, super professional. I didn't know how much I could push the whole, like, 'Can we do that one again because that was out of tune?'"
  • It was a positive experience for Khan too. "I really liked the song, and the message was right up my alley, in line with my philosophy," she said.
  • Khan filmed her part in the song's music video in LA's Topanga Canyon, wearing a dress she designed herself. "We're these spotty nerdy kids playing video games," Steadman smiled to The Guardian. "Then it cuts to Chaka, this beautiful magical spirit in the glorious California outdoors."
  • Bombay Bicycle Club released "Tekken 2" as the fifth single from My Big Day. It's the band's second album with Jack Steadman as the sole producer, after their 2014 LP So Long, See You Tomorrow.

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