Bonobo closes out his journey as an electronic producer and underground nu jazz artist with his last album, “Distance in Static.” It’s chockful of different features from artists, languages and an expansive look into one of electronic music’s most distinct sounds.
Bonobo has always had a special imprint on electronic music, starting from the nu jazz downtempo underground scene. He forged himself as one of the acts whose live shows reflect the spirit the recording carries, with several commercially successful albums and projects along the way. We are here at the end of the line. “Distance in Static” is said to be his last traditional album under this moniker. Simon Green is going on to different micro projects that allow him to explore musicality under a very different signature.
Routes and roots as a drummer
There’s something about Bonobo’s sound that originates in or takes birth from rhythm. Originally a drummer, similar to rock contemporaries like Dave Grohl and EDM powerhouse ZEDD, drums approach any song from their primary instrument. The tempo and feel of the song find their source in how the percussion would play out and eventually other instruments gel in. However, as a multi-instrumentalist, this approach has evolved over time and Bonobo allows the samples and prerecorded pieces to come together like a poem.
He has brought out the full gamut of artists for Distance and Static. We get to listen to artists like Arooj Aftab, Joy Crookes, Nilüfer Yanya, Ichiko Aoba, Nicole Miglis & Aanya Martin. Not only is there an imprint through their own stylistic sound they have established over the years, but there is also a linguistic dictionary that is formed with their inclusion on this album. English, Urdu and Japanese are present through the album, along with Green’s own instrumentation that elevates the experience as always.
Getting into the album
With the emotive and expansive Dawn, the album opens up, showing an entirely new change in pace. I highly recommend headphones for this, for the amount of detail that Bonobo puts into these tracks has to be experienced in an immersive environment. Though Dawn is a short track, it is the precursor or preface, equivalent to a really great novel. The choice of instruments and kind of melodic interpretations that Simon Green uses in his work is more evident than ever in Cycles. As the second track, uses his famous stringed instrumentation to create this atmospheric wave that leads towards a certain level of weightlessness.
Arooj Aftab had done an incredible job with her album, Night Reign in 2024. It was almost like thematic interpretations of the nocturnal mind, and she doesn’t miss the theme with her performance on Fire on the Water. Knowing that her vocals are gentle and extremely dynamic, Bonobo keeps the instrumentation to a rhythmic minimal beat generated in the back. The well-made music video adds to this effect, and I found myself really enjoying the complementing nature of the electronic instrumentation and Aftab’s lyrics and voice.
Through those sands of time
There is definitely an aspect of Bonobo’s 2010 album Black Sands peppered throughout these compositions. Apart from its commercial success, there is a definite lean into the jazz style that he enjoys so much, to keep that organic spirit while also maintaining a rhythm with electronic details. We’re also bleeding into migration territory with artists that are more cosmopolitan, stylistically inclined, and challenging Simon Green’s traditional format, being featured all throughout this album.
Tracks like Drift are where you can really see Bonobo flex his skills as an electronic producer. Phasing effects and the way the beat is chopped and fragmented in certain parts add a whole other dimension when listening to it. Vocal parts get their own unique treatment as well, playing to a very unique style that is reminiscent of his earlier albums. Even the next track, Talk to Me has a more meditative, trance-like feel to it. Nicole Miglis has a distinct vocal profile that contrasts incredibly well with Green’s instrumentation choices.
Range of tracks in display
It would be a natural choice to go to a dance club like Number with “Casually.” This next track is clearly a fan favourite now and shows a wide array of instrumental effects and unique percussion parts. Though Simon Green obviously has drums as one of his most unique and recognisable elements in any song, some of them might tend to feel a bit flat and predictable, especially on these kinds of dance numbers. He accesses melancholy much better when Joy Crooke’s vocals are featured on Always by Your Side.
I don’t assume Bonobo is trying to take us on a journey from point A to B in this album. It is a generous sprinkling of the different kinds of moods he is able to capture and the journeys he’s been able to take with different musicians of different calibres. Their imprint on the song is respected, and Simon Green also ensures his experimentation is not too wild to keep the song in good taste.
An impressive closing
The closing section towards this album has to be one of the most powerful, with both songs like Mercury and Equinoctal being extremely impressive and well-conditioned to the instrumentation that you can hear. Easily, Youth’s Fountain with these 4 tracks or so defines the “special expeditions” of this album, with Bonobo boldly trying new things before his indefinite exile as this moniker. His collaborations are used well, and they allow the album to be elevated from an average bonobo electronic trip to a beautiful journey that fans can keep returning to.
Experience the joy in his latest, Distance in Static:
Check out our playlists here!
Check out our YouTube channel for music reviews, playlists, podcasts, and more!
