After just completing a final and third tour of The North Borders Legacy, Simon Green is finishing with something special for his fans. Formally known as Bonobo, this Brighton native is releasing a new EP, Flashlight. It consists of all original work that he has been experimenting with on his most recent DJ Tour.
I personally had the chance to speak with Simon during this tour and conduct an interview to hear more about his method of creation. He explains how his "music making operation is a backpack with a laptop in it." Simon actually made the Flashlight EP completely with headphones. Yet he realizes that headphones actually help the potential of creative design.
"Flashlight" is easily the album single because of the clear similarity to his early work with downtempo master pieces. "Flashlight" has also been a personal favourite of Bonobo's in every DJ set for the past year, whether live or recorded. The soothing tone and progressive structure makes this single an moving delight. There is something so memorizing by the beat of this song combined with scratches of bizarre sounds.
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"Pelican" is the most experimental track of all three and seems to stand out more as a soft transition rather than striking a musical stance of new sound. The overall mellow mood of "Pelican" dabbles with distorted vocals and washed out synths.
Still, the more I hear "Pelican" the more I appreciate the small samples layered quietly on top of the track, that I can only imagine Simon recording at some point himself in the streets.
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"Return to Air" is my favourite of all three songs on Flashlight because this track ounds familiar to his earlier work,Bonobo always brings in new elements of sound design that show an increasing knowledge of production. His talent with musical composition is undeniable and constantly unpredictable of what is coming next.
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Bonobo's music is entirely in a category of its own for constantly be innovate and unique. The music he makes is always a reflection of his interests at that time. I think the Flashlight EP is a clear example of where Bonobo has been on this past tour. He has been travelling around North America on a DJ set, while the past two years have been on tour with a live band.
This change of lifestyle is reflected in his new EP where there is an absence of vocals or featured artists. The EP crosses over into experimental traits because the songs show a diversity of new sounds and odd compositions. Bonobo is always surprising his fans with unique music and that's why Flashlight deserves a nine.
