MUMBAI: Musician, producer and DJ Bonobo (aka Simon Green) has shared the next preview of his forthcoming album, ‘Fragments’, due out 14 January via Ninja Tune. “Shadows” features friend and Ninja Tune label mate, Jordan Rakei.
The intoxicating “Shadows” leans into a haunting groove of rattling bass and crunchy Fender Rhodes, hitting an ecstatic crescendo over rising synth and string arpeggios. Simon shares, “‘Shadows’ was one of the first pieces in place for the new record and working with Jordan was such a joy. We’d spent plenty of time together previously. He’s toured with us and I’m a huge fans of his. He was an easy choice as a collaborator. The instrumental existed as a slow evolving throwback Detroit thing. I had people like Theo Parish and Moodyman in mind when I was making it. It’s been one of my favourites from the new album since day one.”
“I’ve been a huge fan of Bonobo for such a long time and to now share a piece of music with him is super special. We actually worked on this tune remotely in the beginning of Lockdown 2020,” Jordan Rakei adds. “Simon sent me the track and I actually wrote about 3 different verses and 3 different choruses. When you work remotely it’s really difficult to gauge whether or not an idea is suitable to their vision, so I wanted to make sure I was sending more than enough haha. And he chose his favourite verse and favourite chorus and I went and recorded it in my London studio.”
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Bonobo recently discussed ‘Fragments’ with Rolling Stone around the release of “Tides” feat. Jamila Woods, which Clash described as “Blissful” as a single of the week in The Observer. Lead single “Rosewood” picked up key coverage alongside the album announcement news from the likes of Pitchfork, NME, Mixmag and CRACK magazine’s weekly track selections, and has been streamed over a million times since its release. “Rosewood”, said major US publication Billboard, “captures the essence of the dance floor, and the morning after the party, too. The beat builds to something that demands you to move…from one of the most celebrated producers of the last two decades.”
The forthcoming album is probably the most emotionally intense record that Bonobo, aka Simon Green, has ever produced. The album features an exciting array of collaborations with Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakei, O’Flynn and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Born first out of fragments of ideas and experimentation, the album was ultimately fused together in a burst of creativity fuelled by both collaboration and Simon’s escape into the wild.
One of the biggest names in dance music, Simon’s career includes 5 GRAMMY nominations, including this year’s GRAMMY’s in the Best Dance/Electronic Recording category, and 2 million fans attending the tour supporting his 2017 album ‘Migration’. The album peaked at #1 on Billboard’s Dance album chart and steamrolled into Top 10 positions in several countries. He’s also a favourite main stage performer at music festivals across the globe including Sónar Hong Kong, Laneway Festival Singapore, Glastonbury Festival and Coachella.
‘Fragments’ Tracklist
1. Polyghost (feat. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)
2. Shadows (feat. Jordan Rakei)
3. Rosewood
4. Otomo (feat. O’Flynn)
5. Tides (feat. Jamila Woods)
6. Elysian
7. Closer
8. Age of Phase
9. From You (feat. Joji)
10. Counterpart
11. Sapien
12. Day by Day (feat. Kadhja Bonet)
