Fragments

Simon Green began working on his seventh studio album as Bonobo at the beginning of 2020, as dancefloors around the world were closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, Green had typically created music while touring, but this time he was able to stay grounded and concentrate, creating the record in a self-built studio in Los Angeles. Appearing a few years after Bonobo's underappreciated Fabric Presents mix, Fragments has more of a focus on club-driven material than Green's previous full-lengths, yet it's still composed and structured as a proper album rather than just a collection of tracks. His productions are just the right balance of lush and gritty, blending rich string arrangements by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and lovely harp playing by Lara Somogyi with modular synth swells and soulful organs. Green's sound is refined and accessible, yet never too slick or loaded with artificial feel-good vibes like a lot of commercial, Ibiza-friendly house. The disembodied vocal sample on