Bonobo Maps a Multiplicity of Voices on New Album ‘Distance In Static’

Bonobo will release his new album ‘Distance In Static’ on September 11 via Ninja Tune. For Simon Green, the record makes a case for creative multiplicity. “I want to reinforce this idea that you can be more than one thing,” he says, and the guest list backs that up: Arooj Aftab, Joy Crookes, Nilüfer Yanya, Ichiko Aoba, Nicole Miglis (Hundred Waters), and Aanya Martin each contribute vocals across the 14 tracks, moving between English and other languages without dwelling on the transitions.

The club-focused single ‘Me And You’ is the immediate entry point, but the tracklist suggests deeper turns. Songs like ‘Fire on the Water’ with Aftab or ‘Youth’s Fountain’ with Yanya carry different temperatures entirely. Green has been testing material in DJ sets and packed pop-ups in London and Paris, a return to live possibility after quiet years.

This is Green’s first album since ‘Fragments’ (2022), and it seems calculated to widen the frame rather than repeat past successes. Ninja Tune, his long-time label, is once again the home. The release does not shout for attention; instead, it assembles names and textures that suggest Bonobo’s own identity is increasingly found in collaboration. ‘Distance In Static’ becomes an argument for noise over signal, complexity over a single selling point.