2001

2001 is the breezy electro-pop collaboration between Joan as Police Woman's Joan Wasser and another Brooklyn-based musician, Benjamin Lazar Davis. When they met, the pair bonded over their separate trips to Africa: Wasser traveled to Ethiopia to work on Damon Albarn's Africa Express project, while Davis went to West Africa to study the region's traditional music. For their own music, they drew inspiration from Central African Republic Pygmy musical patterns, which they played on more conventional rock instruments such as guitar and keyboards. The group's debut single, "Broke Me in Two," arrived in late 2015. ~ Heather Phares