Fragments

Released

The ninth album from Bonobo and his journey from making blunted beats and mod-ish instrumental hip hop, into a musical space where jazz, electronica, folk, house and neo-classical sit comfortably together is complete. This album is also a progression from much of his previous full-length efforts in that there’s more dance floor material here as well as his more usual headphones/night-drive offerings, with the beats generally house and garage-derived rather than crusty sampled breaks or rolling jazz rhythms. There are seven full songs including Shadows featuring Jordan Rakei, a slinky, classy deep house vocal that progresses from cool and clean to epic and ecstatic, and Day By Day featuring Kadhja Bonet and Tides with Jamila Woods, which are both gorgeous slices of folktronic R’n’B, the former quietly uplifting and joyful, the latter intense and brooding. Atmospheric, alluring and accomplished.

Harold Heath