The surreal music video is a dizzying collection of snapshots; shadows, silhouettes, and crowds meander and duplicate themselves into grids and gauzes. It is hard to tell if Mr. Rakei himself makes an appearance in the video, all the more adding to the music video’s disorienting feel.

Directed by BWTV, the video for “Shadows” emulates their previous video-making styles, comprising of distorted clips in a retro style, though typically such clips will be overlayed on footage of artists. Their video for Man of Moon’s “Strangers” video read like a broken VCR tape, whose real had been sunburnt only in the best, most aesthetically pleasing spots. Their style befits artists like Bonobo, whose staccato deep house drums befit the choppy visual style.

Bonobo’s Fragments album is his first in four years, since 2017s Migration that landed him a number one spot on the dance album charts. Certain album singles that were release prior to Fragments went on to see huge popularity and acclaim, with “Rosewood” alone earning a number three spot on Spotify’s Best Electronic Songs of 2021.

Speaking on the album, Bonobo discusses the sonic influences that went into this project: “It’s all come full circle now — that emotional rave music. I think there’s some really fun stuff happening at the moment; this resurgence of breakbeat, like the slow, deconstructed junglist kind of stuff.” In an interview with DJMag for their cover feature last year, Bonobo praises Overmono with spearheading this new, welcome trend in UK dance: “They’ve done some amazing stuff. I love that approach to it, where it’s stripped down but emotional… it’s almost a throwback to people like Mike Paradinas, that Rephlex era of breakbeats. That was something I was into.” 

Listen to Bonobo’s Fragments below:

The new, dynamic single features O’Flynn, who co-produced it and turned Bonobo’s sample of a “Bulgarian choir – called 100 Kaba-Gaidi - into a dramatic breakdown and beat drop“. The new track is the most groovy hip-shaking one that the producer ever put on tape. “The song coming together also helped to remind Green of the sense of dancefloor abandon and surging crowds that he had so crucially missed” states the press release.

Simon Green (aka Bonobo) said on the new release in a statement: “Otomo’ began with a sample of a Bulgarian choir. Melodically it was working well but needed a dynamic shift. I asked my friend O’Fllynn for input. He sent it back with a dance floor ready drum section. It’s one of my favorites from the album. I’ve been playing it all year in my dj sets, there’s already a huge response and a feeling of immediate familiarity”.

O’Flynn added: “Simon messaged me last year with a track he was working on and asked for some feedback. I took a punt and asked for the stems to try some ideas on. The tune had this big choir sample and chords in – I went to work trying to contrast that choir with something much harder to try and change the context, using the choir and chords as this kind of relief to this big percussive 808 drop. Luckily Simon liked what I did and we developed the tune from there”.

O’Flynn shared in a statement how to be asked for feedback from Green caught him off guard: “So I had this driving force and pressure to come up with something that could take the idea in a new direction and hit the high bar Simon sets with all his productions”.

You can listen to “Otomo” below.

Last month the producer released singles “Rosewood” and “Tides” featuring Jamila Woods. The second track has been described as “blissfull’ by Clash and has been single of the week in The Observer.

The upcoming album will feature other musicians like Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakel and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Talking about his work process Bonobo shared with Rolling Stone:  “Usually part of the process is you work on something and you go out and play it that weekend”. That way, “you can really tell when a tune dies on the dancefloor. It’s invaluable.” You think, ‘this is it, this is the club track! Then it falls flat.’” And on the flip side, “some things really get a big reaction when you’re least expecting it” – he continues.

Bonobo heading on a live tour next year, headlining three nights at the Royal Albert Hall. More tour dates can be found in the previous mxdwn article.

Photo Credit/Press Shot – Grant Spanier

The new album will feature guest artists like Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakei, O’Flynn and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. The upcoming release has been described by the artist as his most emotionally intense work to date. “It’s about the dancefloor in many ways about how I remembered all over again how much I loved crowds and movement and people connecting with each other” – said Bonobo in a statement. 

Fragments is fated to be “one of the crossover electronic records of the year“. “Its electronic sounds are more powerfully hypnotic, the beauty of acoustic instruments is more exquisitely realised, the two are interwoven more totally – and the songs are unforgettable.” The album has been produced during hard times of pandemic when as many artists “he was struggling to get his ideas out“. “From just pushing a kickdrum around on a computer screen, going off, making a cup of tea, then pushing it round some more” – he explains the process “it was chaotic but you could exert some degree of control over just how chaotic it should be“. 

Bonobo started off his music journey in 1999 by making trip-hop music which quickly expanded to more upbeat tracks. From small clubs in Brighton, he accelerated into huge arenas filled with a live band and worked alongside big musical names like Erykah Badu, Ólafur Arnalds and Jon Hopkins. He has done remixes for Michael Kiwanuka, Gorillaz, George Fitzgerald and London Grammar.

Green has received three Grammy nominations, sold-out London’s Alexandra Palace three times as well as Denver’s Red Rock Amphitheatre. He played all major festivals from Glastonbury through Lollapalooza, Primavera Sound and Fuji Rock to Coachella. His last album Migration from 2017 reached the top 5 in UK Charts.

My new album Fragments is coming out January 14th.
New single Rosewood out today.

2022 North American live tour presale starts tomorrow at 11am.

Pre-order the album for access to UK/EU pre-sale next week.https://t.co/tJF1ytzVBX pic.twitter.com/6ipXiPBoWd

— Bonobo (@si_bonobo) October 6, 2021

The producer also announced a world tour next year which will begin in mid-February in the USA and ends up in mid-May in the UK. The tour will end with three shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

See full EU and UK tour dates below. Tickets, along with the pre-order option of the new album are available here.

20/04/22 – AFAS Live, Amsterdam, NL
21/04 – Edel-optics.de Arena, Hamburg, DE
23/04 – UFO im Velodrom, Berlin, De
24/04 – Palladium, Cologne, De
25/04 – TonHalle, Munich, De
26/04 – Xtra, Zurich, CH
28/04 – Le Centquatre, Paris, FR

3/05 – The Brighton Centre, Brighton, UK
4/05 – O2 Academy, Birmingham, UK
6/05 – Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, UK
7/05 – O2 Academy, Leeds, UK
8/05 – Rock City, Nottingham, UK
16/05 – Royal Albert Hall, London, UK
17/05 – Royal Albert Hall, London, UK
18/05 – Royal Albert Hall, London, UK