Bonobo – Black Sands
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4 years ago, Simon Green (better known for his moniker Bonobo) changed directions. What emerged was 2006’s Days To Come; what many critics believed to be the high water mark for the project. What these critics were unaware of at the time, is that it was just Green becoming comfortable in his own skin. The release showed a different side of Green’s DJ and producing style relying on more bass heavy tunes and the obvious influence of vocals as an added element. The latter was the biggest stretch for many fans, but no one will doubt its immediate impact.
Following the world-wide acclaim from that release, Green has taken a few steps back and one huge step forward in the process. His latest from Ninja-Tune, shows the Brighton DJ honing his craft in a way that would make any producer jealous. The result is smooth, like silk covered in butter. His latest, Black Sands is a combination of every influence from his past 4 releases and is no doubt his most fully developed release to date and his best all-around effort.
The layers produced here are no strain for the listener to grasp and this makes Black Sands without a doubt his most accessible release. It’s clean and flows from beginning to end with little effort and the addition of sublime vocalist Andreya Triana is the cherry on top. Vintage Bonobo down-tempo beats begin the album in classic form with ‘Kiara’ and ‘Kong’ displaying simply, the rhythms Green has been so successful over the past decade of producing. We get our first taste Andreya’s silk smooth voice on the first single ‘Eyesdown.’ Right away it’s obvious that Green has found the voice he has been searching for to compliment his sound. He uses the vocal in a unique way, not highlighting the lyrical element, but using it as another music element. Every level feels perfectly compiled and the rhythm and vocal are viewed as one.
Directly following ‘Eyesdown’, Bonobo cuts back into their instrumental numbers with obvious proficiency. ‘El Toro’ is a playful number with a strong bass line with strings and horns playing back in forth in an audio tennis match and ‘We Could Live Forever’ continues the trend but with a little more electronic influence thrown in for good measure. Green slows things down a bit for the intro to ‘1009’, but not for long pushing through to one of my favorite cuts on the record, ‘All In Forms’. The record keeps a pretty solid tempo from beginning to end in a very cohesive manner until ‘The Keeper’ where we get our second glimpse of Triana. The introduction of piano and bass line in the intro is foreboding and plays unbelievably well against Triana’s seductive vocals. If this record has a climax it is in these next 2 tracks, ‘Stay the Same’ and ‘Animals’, which spread the best of what Bonobo has to offer in full view.
Many will argue that Green didn’t take enough of a drastic step forward from his last, but in four years, I feel it’s obvious he has reflected on where he has been and then some. Many artists can learn from this philosophy, as you can’t move forward without knowing where you came from. He builds upon his strengths, removes his weaknesses and creates some of the best jazz fusion in the world today. Bonobo will be at the Parish Wednesday, April the 14th with the full band.