Image: Neil Krug
Musician, producer and DJ Bonobo (aka Simon Green) has shared another new preview of his forthcoming album ‘Fragments’ (January 14th). Listen to ‘Otomo‘ featuring O’Flynn here.
‘Otomo’ is a dynamic single and builds to one of the hardest and most hip-shaking grooves that Green has ever put on tape. It was created by Green in his Los Angeles studio as the US was opening up from lockdown and captures that “light at the end of the tunnel” sense of return. O’Flynn co-produced the single, turning Green’s sample of a Bulgarian choir – called 100 Kaba-Gaidi – into a dramatic breakdown and beat drop. The process of the song coming together also helped to remind Green of the sense of dancefloor abandon and surging crowds that he had so crucially missed.
Green said on the release:
“‘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 said of the release:
“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. To be approached by Simon for feedback in the first place caught me off guard. He has delivered some of my favourite music over the years and was one of my main influences growing up – but I just had to immediately push that to one side and get to work. I knew it was one thing to be asked for feedback, but to be part of the track would just be very special. 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.”
Bonobo recently discussed ‘Fragments’ with Rolling Stone around the release of “Tides” feat. Jamila Woods, which was featured by The FADER, Clash and was described as “Blissful” as a single of the week in The Observer. The first song to be shared from the new album, “Rosewood,” was covered widely with the album announcement news from Pitchfork, Mixmag, DJ Magazine to Vinyl Factory, it was picked up in CRACK magazine’s weekly track selections, as well as recently hitting the A-list on BBC 6 Music.
“Fragments” also features Joji, Kadhja Bonet, Jordan Rakei and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Born first out of fragments of ideas and experimentation, the album ultimately was fused together in a burst of creativity fuelled by both collaboration and Green’s escape into the wild.
One of the biggest names in dance music, Green’s career includes 3 GRAMMY nominations and 2 million fans attending the tour supporting his 2017 album “Migration”. “Migration“ also reached #1 on Billboard’s Dance album chart and hit Top Ten positions in several countries, including a Top 5 at home in the UK. He’s also a favourite mainstage performer at the world’s greatest music festivals.
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