Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by John Richards, host of The Morning Show on KEXP, is "Rosewood" by Bonobo from the 2022 album Fragments via Ninja Tune.
Since the late ‘90s, Simon Green has been sharing his sweeping electronic grooves as Bonobo to much acclaim. 2022 will see him unveil his hotly anticipated seventh full-length Fragments. Created during the pandemic, the songs were made out of fragmented pieces of ideas the British-born, LA-based producer put together while on lockdown with the help of some notable names like Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, and Jordan Rakei.
Our Song of the Day is the record’s lead single, “Rosewood.” Customarily warm and woozy, the song has a locked groove with the repeating phrase, “I won’t leave you,” providing emotional resonance until the song’s cathartic dance floor build-up. It’s a lesson in restraint, letting the subtle flourishes of the song shine while never fully releasing or doing too much.
Fragments is out this Friday, January 14 via Ninja Tune. It follows up Bonobo’s 2020 collaborative EP with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Heartbreak / 6000 Ft. and his Grammy-nominated 2017 full-length Migration. Watch Bonobo’s KEXP in-studio session from 2017 below.
