ALBUM REVIEW: Bonobo – Fragments

Ninja Tune

Released: 14.01.22

Bonobo has been producing some of the finest electronic music in the world for well over a decade, and yet his forthcoming album Fragments sounds as innovative as ever. It marks a return to the sound typified by 2013 album The North Borders; with instrumental flourishes being punctured by serene vocals from the likes of Jamila Woods and Kadhja Bonet.

For all the album’s sublime consistency, it still has several distinct highpoints. Recent single Tides is so achingly beautiful that first hearing it sent me into existential crisis on the metro somewhere between Felling and Gateshead interchange. Elsewhere, fellow Ninja Tune alumni O’Flynn joins him on Otomo, his heaviest track to date, proving he still has plenty in reserve for the dancefloor.