Following Graham Coxon's departure from Blur in 2002, Tong was recruited as the guitarist for the band's live performances in support of the album Think Tank (2003).[3] The album enjoyed very good reviews and a second single, "Kingdom of Doom", was also released in January 2007 as part of their pan European tour.In 2021, Tong contributed to Damon Albarn's solo album, The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows.[5] He was a member of the band Transmission with Youth, Paul Ferguson (of Killing Joke) and Tim Bran (of Dreadzone) which has released a single called "Noctolucent" and an album, Beyond Light, in 2006.Tong was asked to play guitar on the album Apriti sesamo by Italian composer Franco Battiato.