Singapore: 5x GRAMMY-nominated musician, producer and DJ Bonobo has shared “ATK”, his first single since the release of his new album ‘Fragments’ via Ninja Tune in January. The single is out now on his label OUTLIER in partnership with Ninja Tune.
“’ATK’ was made around the same time as Fragments. Initially a DJ edit of Atakora Manu’s ‘Dada,’ it became something fuller and a track of its own. I felt it was a little too bashy to fit on the album and wanted to save it as an OUTLIER release to be aimed more at the dance floor,” says Bonobo. Manu was an influential Ghanaian Highlife guitarist, composer, and studio engineer that formed the legendary Kakaiku No. 2 Band with Moses Kweku Oppong in the late ‘60s.
“ATK” arrives with a video directed by the McGloughlin Brothers (A$AP Rocky, Max Cooper) that takes the viewer on a train ride through multiple textures, landscapes and shapes of all different scale. The video showcases glimpses of graffiti, colourful windows and walls, Portuguese tiles and train stations across the world that mimic the fast-paced beat of the track.
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“We wanted to create a minimal film embodying ideas of serendipity and perception, allowing the world to reveal itself in unusual ways spontaneously. If you have ever looked out of a train window to see the wires and tiles weave and dance in a magical way, this, in essence, is what we wanted to capture in our film. Our own living ‘zoetrope’,” the McGloughlin Brothers shares.
It’s been a tremendous year for Bonobo, aka Simon Green. ‘Fragments’ hit #3 on Billboard’s Top Dance / Electronic Albums chart, and also earned two nominations for the 64th GRAMMY Awards, one for “Heartbreak” which was released on his OUTLIER label, and made his NPR Tiny Desk debut. In interviews with The Fader, Billboard, Mixmag and Composer Magazine, Simon discussed the struggle to find creative inspiration while the world stood still as he made ‘Fragments’ in his LA studio beginning in 2020.
Additional reviews and coverage came from Pitchfork, SPIN, Zane Lowe, Spotify’s Best Electronic Songs of 2021 and print magazine cover stories with DJ Mag.The album led NPR Music to rave, “the grooves cut so deep…it has so much life in it, it makes you want to move.” The Observer deemed it a “brilliant, wondrous work,” giving it 5 out of 5 stars.
One of the biggest names in dance music, Bonobo is also a favourite main stage performer at music festivals across the globe including Sónar Hong Kong, Laneway Festival Singapore, Glastonbury Festival and Coachella. He has also worked with a wide range of artists including Erykah Badu and Jon Hopkins and remixes for Gorillaz and Michael Kiwanuka. Other collaborators include Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakei, O’Flynn, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, all featured on ‘Fragments’.
