Shall We Dance?

Simon Green, better known by his stage name Bonobo, is a British musician, producer, and DJ who’s been active in the music world since 1999. Those familiar with him are accustomed to his ever-changing style as he tries out subgenres and explores what possibilities he can discover and bring out of them. A fascinating fact about Bonobo is that when on tour, he’s accompanied by a full band. The multi-talented artist often plays bass guitar and leads the band from the middle. This is impressive because it shows his versatility as an artist and that he isn’t afraid to take risks.

Flashlight is an EP that shows Bonobo exploring the dance side of electronic music. Meaning, more of the club banger hits that make you want to dance along. This is the first album where this has been introduced in his music. The dance music route is a promising one for him. Although Flashlight is made up of only three songs, it’s safe to say that Bonobo has found his niche. It’d be nice to see more of the same sort of music on an LP so his growth can be further explored.

The title track starts out the EP and is a mesmerizing beat that makes listeners desire to hear more. It catches the ears of those who listen and those who appreciate music will long to hear other tracks with the same idea in mind. The first track isn’t the highlight of the EP and that’s a wise decision. In fact, the following two tracks are certainly more solid than the first and that’s a great thing. No artist wants the first song to be the best. With each track on here, Bonobo gets more and more comfortable, and each track is more profound than the last. “Pelican” is a track with deep house roots that suits the British producer nicely. The final track, “Return To Air,” sends the EP out on a high note to say the least. This track has R&B and soul music within the mostly instrumental beats. How can a mostly-instrumental track be classified as either of those genres? First of all, there are voices, but the lyrics are very unclear and the beat takes center stage. The beat itself has an undertone to it that makes it easy to picture this track being in the background with Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, or Otis Redding’s voice layered smoothly over the track.

On top of this release, Bonobo has also recently put out a live album to go with his successful last album, The North Borders. As mentioned earlier, Bonobo’s live shows are captivating due to the full band that he has. The North Borders is an important album for the artist because it teases with just a sliver of the mesmerizing performances, leaving listeners longing to see the show for themselves. This live album highlighted the depth that Bonobo has, something that Flashlight fails to do, due to its short length. However, taken together, Flashlight and The North Borders Tour. — Live make up a pair of releases from one versatile DJ who is a talent that shouldn’t be overlooked.