BONOBO, 'THE NORTH BORDERS'

Quite a lot of people find electronic music too… artificial, too machine-produced and lacking in that real soul you only get from an actual instrument. Yet others are turned-off by repetitive drum beats and overuse of bass and whatever it is exactly that Skrillex does (far better to not know). To these people I would recommend the new Bonobo album The North Borders.

The muted greens and yellows of the album cover set the mood for a musical journey that gently massages away all the tension of the day. Bonobo produces a particularly intimate, organic electronica (not an oxymoron) that never comes across as being cold or unreal. Soothing stringwork and atmospheric layers are content to work in the background instead of waving their hands frantically like Hermione Granger with an answer. The bass thumps purposefully and the beats skitter happily somewhere in the back of your head. It's a more direct approach than his debut in Animal Magic, but much more subtle than the excellent Black Sands. Of note is the presence of vocalists: they are present in quite a few tracks, but they too are often in the background, their voices as integral a part of the beat as any drum effect. Even when they are singing actual lyrics, they are not dominating presences. There is a beautiful democracy of sound in the album. Each is a part of a whole.

I won't talk about stand-out tracks because while I do enjoy some more than others, you can tell that they aren't really made to be much better than their fellows. The tracks have a natural logic and progression and work best in context. That being said, the video for 'Cirrus' is completely, utterly mad. You should watch it.

The verdict: Bonobo's The North Borders is an excellent release that says a lot about this year's musical prospects. If you want to take some time out from life and relax, here's a good place to start. (And get the rest of his discography while you're at it.)