Clean Bandit have brought Chlöe and Omah Lay together for “Company”, a new single that also opens the door to the group’s next studio album and a new chapter through their independent label, CB X.
by Paul Cashmere
Clean Bandit have released “Company”, a collaboration with Chlöe and Omah Lay that introduces the next phase of the Grammy-winning collective’s music while revealing a connection with Omah Lay that has been developing for years. The song is the first taste of Clean Bandit’s forthcoming studio album, scheduled for 2027 through their own CB X label.
“Company” brings together three artists from different musical worlds. Clean Bandit’s electronic production and classical influences provide the framework, Chlöe supplies the pop-R&B vocal presence, and Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer Omah Lay adds his Afro-fusion approach.
The song centres on desire, loneliness and the need for human connection. Musically, it retains the rhythmic precision associated with Clean Bandit while allowing Chlöe’s vocal runs and ad-libs and Omah Lay’s distinctive delivery to shape the character of the track.
For Grace Chatto, the collaboration has been a long time in the making.
“I feel very summery and happy listening to this song,” Chatto said. “I love Chlöe’s voice and energy, and her ad libs are everything.”
Chatto first met Chlöe in Toronto several years ago, while Clean Bandit’s relationship with Omah Lay stretches back even further. The group had been working with artists and producers in Nigeria and had written several songs with Omah Lay over the past five years before “Company” was selected for release.
Omah Lay recalls first meeting Grace Chatto and Jack Patterson in 2022, when they wrote together at Patterson’s house. “Company” came later, but the connection established during those sessions eventually led to the new collaboration.
“I liked that they directed the music video themselves,” Omah Lay said.
That decision gives “Company” another distinctly Clean Bandit dimension. Grace Chatto and Jack Patterson wrote and directed the video, with Patterson also handling the edit. It was filmed last month at a former state hospital in the Los Angeles area, using the building’s large kitchen and power plant rooms as the setting.
The visual concept explores the same tension between solitude and togetherness found in the song. Award-winning choreographer, director and performance artist Maggz created architectural dance sequences that interact with the abandoned building.
The collaboration came together partly by coincidence. Chatto had admired Maggz’s choreography and reached out, only to discover that the Australian artist had just landed in Los Angeles with a one-way ticket. Chlöe and Omah Lay were also in Los Angeles at the time, prompting Chatto and Patterson to travel there and begin work on the film.
Chatto said the group wanted the video to contrast with the colourful musical character of “Company”.
“We chose to keep everything neutral and the colours muted,” Chlöe said, describing the visual approach as a deliberate juxtaposition with the vibrant feel of the song.
The single also marks a significant step for Clean Bandit beyond the individual recording. “Company” is the second release through CB X, the independent label established by the group as a new home for collaborations involving established and emerging artists.
The label follows a creative philosophy that has been central to Clean Bandit since the group formed in Cambridge in 2008. Grace Chatto and Jack Patterson, alongside drummer Luke Patterson, developed their sound through a combination of live strings, electronic production, dance music and visual storytelling.
That collaborative model has since taken Clean Bandit into partnerships with artists including Jess Glynne, Zara Larsson, Sean Paul, Anne-Marie, Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding, Mabel, Julia Michaels, Rita Ora, David Guetta, Rema and many others.
CB X extends that approach by giving Clean Bandit greater control over the music and the collaborations surrounding it.
Before “Company”, the label’s first release was “I Don’t Wanna Hurt You”, a Clean Bandit collaboration with Biig Piig. The track combines strings, plucked arpeggios and a 2-step rhythm with Biig Piig’s softer, melancholic vocal style.
The forthcoming Clean Bandit album has not yet been formally announced with a title or tracklisting, but “Company” establishes the direction with a collaboration that connects British electronic pop, contemporary R&B and Nigerian Afro-fusion.
For now, the album remains largely under wraps. “Company” is the first substantial indication of what Clean Bandit are building for 2027, with Chlöe and Omah Lay providing the first glimpse of the collaborative world around CB X.
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