Over the years, some mighty big names have called upon Little Dragon to collaborate. Gorillaz, Out-kast's Big Boi, TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, and DJ Shadow have all tapped the Swedish electropop foursome. Questlove, Pharrell, and Andre 3000 have declared their love. But regular people? Forget it. "We had more artists who appreciated our music than we had fans," singer Yukimi Nagano says of the band's late-aughts career. "Touring, there'd be like 10 or 20 people at shows." 1 With help from its famous friends (Gorillaz took Little Dragon on a stadium tour) and Grey's Anatomy (which featured its elegiac "Twice"), the Gothenburg group finally broke through with its third album, 2011's Ritual Union. For its new record, May's Nabuma Rubberband, Little Dragon is the one calling on collaborators: Dave from De La Soul cowrote the lyrics to "Mirror." and thp Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra added string arrangements. The dragon's not so little anymore.
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