Bonobo Announces Black Sands 10th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue

Dalston, 2008. Having fled the comforts of Brighton, I began a new life in London which was new and exciting to me. There had been huge personal changes with family, relationships and cultural perspectives. Music was changing in the UK too. It felt at the time like the landscape of electronic music was constantly being reimagined in the basements of East London clubs. It felt fun again. It was inspiring. This new movement informed how I was making music.

There’s a progressive arc in the sound of Black Sands creation. The title track was the first piece in place. Then the other live-sounding tracks like “Animals” and “El Toro.” This was picking up where I’d left off from the previous album Days to Come. As time went on and 2009 approached I’d become fully immersed in what was happening in the UK clubs. Places like Plastic People and warehouse parties in East London and Peckham. This was the post-dubstep era. Elements of House and 2-step. All wonky and joyful. It was fun and progressive. This influence can be heard on the tracks produced around then like “Eyesdown” and ‘1009’.

All my records feel like a diary of the time and headspace they were made in and Black Sands documents this in real time for me. A transition of falling in love with beatmaking again. An appreciation of a place and time and an anticipation for what was going to happen next.