It’s been four years since Bonobo’s epic 2017 Grammy-nominated Migration came out. Now this week, the much-anticipated follow-up, Fragments, has been announced.
It features yet another sterling list of featured artists that shows Bonobo’s Simon Green ability to keep his finger on the pulse. Out January 15 on Ninja Tune, the Fragments tracklist include collaborations with Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakei, O’Flynn, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.
Green calls the Woods collaboration the “centerpiece” of the record and that working with arranger and strings player Atwood-Ferguson helped the album’s musical themes emerge, saying in a statement, “Recording orchestral musicians in actual studios helped bring the songs ‘out of the box’ even more.
The lead single, “Rosewood,” is out now and it’s very clearly inspired by the Detroit techno of producers like Moodymann and Theo Parrish. In fact, Green says much of the album is about the dance floor, but that “the positivity isn’t just in the uptempo rhythms: even the most introspective and melancholic pieces have joy in them.”
The artwork for the “Rosewood” visualizer and for the album cover are by Neil Krug, who also designed the visual concept for Migration.
Listen to “Rosewood” above, and below, find the Fragments art and tracklist, as well as Bonobo’s upcoming tour dates.
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
02/18/2022 — Nashville, TN @ Wildhorse Saloon
02/19/2022 — Newport, KY @ PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation
02/20/2022 — Columbus, OH @ EXPRESS LIVE!
02/21/2022 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
02/25/2022 — Brooklyn, NY @ Great Hall
02/27/2022 — Boston, MA @ Royale
02/28/2022 — Washington, DC @ Echostage
03/02/2022 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall
03/05/2022 — Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
03/06/2022 — Montreal, QC @ Mtelus
03/09/2022 — Toronto, ON @ History
03/10/2022 — Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Hall
03/11/2022 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
03/12/2022 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
03/13/2022 — Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
03/15/2022 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Palace
03/17/2022 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
03/18/2022 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
03/19/2022 — Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
03/21/2022 — Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
03/22/2022 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
03/24/2022 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
04/20/2022 — Amsterdam, NL @ AFAS Live
04/21/2022 — Hamburg, DE @ edel-optics.de Arena
04/23/2022 — Berlin, De @ UFO im Velodrom
04/24/2022 — Cologne, De @ Palladium
04/25/2022 — Munich, De @ TonHalle
04/26/2022 — Zurich, CH @ Xtra
04/28/2022 — Paris, FR @ Le Centquatre
05/03/2022 — Brighton, UK @ The Brighton Centre
05/04/2022 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
05/06/2022 — Manchester, UK @ Victoria Warehouse
05/07/2022 — Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy
05/08/2022 — Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
05/16/2022 — London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall
05/17/2022 — London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall
05/18/2022 — London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall
Fragments is out 1/15 via Ninja Tune. Pre-order it here.