The North Borders
While the fifth studio album from producer Simon Green (a.k.a. Bonobo) continues to soothe the eardrums with his signature style of soulful downbeat, *The North Borders* is also rife with previously unheard nuances. Over a more studied mix of acoustic and electronic textures, Bonobo mixes in some salient guest vocal parts—with Erykah Badu’s the most alluring. She sounds almost robotic in \"Heaven for the Sinner” as her phrasing matches the deliberately stuttered rhythms pulsing over a delicate tangle of horns, harps, strings, and woodwinds. Grey Reverend sets a mellow vibe in the opening “First Fires,” where his smoky inflections recall moments from Terry Callier’s 1972 opus *What Color Is Love*. Similarly, the creamy inflections of electronica soul singer Szjerdene are a perfect fit the ethereal “Towers,” which nicely balances the rich resonance of wooden percussion with the slow percolation of drum-machine beats and what sounds like vintage analog synth tones. She turns up again in the more spatial “Transits,” which has a dusty-vinyl effect that approximates the warm crackles and pops of playing an old record.
The story of Bonobo is one that's become uncommon in contemporary music. There was no sudden, viral internet sensation, no one-off big hit, no abrupt, accidental alignment with the zeitgeist. Instead, over the course of four albums, myriad tours, singles, remixes and production work for other artists, he quietly but very definitely became one of the most important artists in electronic music. The hard work paid off, and culminated in 2010's 'Black Sands;' a masterful album that married Green's inimitable melodic genius and musicianship to bleeding edge electronics, bass and infectious drums. After a year plus of touring the hypnotic, extended live versions of Black Sands, he finally found time last year to embed himself in his New York studio and write his fifth studio album. Now, in 2013, he stands ready to take things up yet another notch. 'The North Borders' is a long stride forward - both a natural evolution and a continuation of the electronic palette of Black Sands. Thematic, resonant, addictive and perfectly formed, it's a thrillingly coherent statement piece. It's also an album that shows just how far electronic music has come. Its richness of texture, emotive force and all round depth are facets found more often within, dare we say it, classical music. If there's a renaissance taking place within this scene, Simon Green could make a strong claim to being one of its key driving forces. As with previous albums, The North Borders features a careful balance between vocal tracks and instrumentals, ensuring that the productions themselves get room to breathe and shine. When Green discovered that he and Erykah Badu shared a mutual appreciation for each other’s work, he leapt at the chance to collaborate. The resultant ‘Heaven for the Sinner’ is one of the album’s triumphs, a transcendental, incanted vocal masterclass married to a brilliant two-step glitch and a yearning melody. NYC folk underdog Grey Reverend appears on album opener 'First Fires,' providing a raw, emotion-laid-bare growl that sets the tone for an album that's joyously unselfconscious. Bonobo has a long history of unearthing new talent, Black Sands having launched the solo career of guest vocalist Andreya Triana. The North Borders sees him do so once again. The startling, ethereal vocals of new collaborator Szjerdene are sprinkled across the album, and Green has yet again found the perfect voice to express where he's at. ‘Transits’ sees her vocal weave around a garage beat that’s somehow fragile and purposeful all at once, a gradually emerging hook rising from the depths of the song. ‘Emkay’ is a stunning example of the album’s marriage of addictive, urban-inflected drums to rise-and-swell melody that never fails to move the listener. Opening single ‘Cirrus’ sees a clockwork-precise rhythm drive a chiming, insistent melody that builds to one of the record’s great emotional climaxes. This is where Green excels; he knows how to invest electronic music with immense feeling. The North Borders – like all great records - is an album that demands to be listened to as such; a body of work with its own internal logic, themes and narrative arc. Bonobo’s abilities are at an all time high, and The North Borders everything his growing army of fans will have hoped for - a sheer delight.
UK producer Simon Green, now based in New York, was at the forefront of the downtempo electronica scene that bubbled up in the late 90s and early 2000s. His fifth studio album as Bonobo features guest vocals from Erykah Badu and a haunting sense of déjà vu.
On his 2013 release The North Borders, British producer Simon Green (aka Bonobo) continues along the organic-meets-electronic path that his 2010 release Black Sands followed, but this walk takes place as it's turning to dusk, and there are varying degrees of mist and chilliness along the way.
The fifth LP from Brighton’s Bonobo (aka Simon Green) opens in understated style, as Grey Reverend’s brooding vocals overlay the gently shimmering dubstep of First Fires. It's characteristic of an artist who has patiently honed a distinctive sound, drawing on elements of jazz and garage; the success Green has quietly assimilated is evident in the presence of Erykah Badu here, whose voice is merged with a cluster of harp, strings and brass on the melancholy Heaven for the Sinner.
Bonobo's slow, steady build may not be typical for an artist nowadays, but his longevity has given rise to a career spanning over a decade and five studio LPs, including 2010's highly celebrated Black Sands and his fifth and latest release, The North Borders.