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Olivia Stock
19 May 2023, 14:06

Bonobo and DJ Mag to share live recording of last year’s Royal Albert Hall residency this weekend: Watch

The exclusive collaborative film debuts on Sunday

Photo of Bonobo performing at the Royal Albert Hall.

DJ Mag has partnered with Bonobo to release an official film celebrating the one year anniversary of his five-night residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The concert film, which was directed by DJ Mag’s Jon Dommett and exclusively mixed by Tommy Williams, will premiere this Sunday (21st May).

Focusing on tracks from Bonobo’s GRAMMY-award nominated recent album, ‘Fragments’, as well as songs from his wider catalogue, the film showcases an artist at the top of his game, expertly blending acoustic and electronic music to levels arguably not seen before in such iconic surroundings.

The hour-and-a-half film also features the legendary moment when organist Anna Lapwood joined the band for ‘Otomo’, on the venue’s famed pipe organ. The impromptu collaboration came about after Bonobo’s trumpet player Ryan Jacob and sound engineer Tommy Williams heard Lapwood practising at 1am after one of the residency shows. She joined the show the next night as a surprise guest and footage of the occasion went viral online, receiving over 6 million plays to date on Lapwood’s TikTok.

Speaking about the release, Bonobo said: “One year on from the Royal Albert Hall residency I’m very happy to be able to present this filming of the performance with dj mag. This was one of the best weeks of my life and I’m thrilled we managed to capture it".

Speaking on the collaborative project, Simon Kelly, DJ Mag’s head of digital said: “It’s been an honour to work with Bonobo, his incredible band and the iconic Royal Albert Hall for what is our largest ever live video production. Recorded on the Royal Albert Hall’s 150th anniversary, as Bonobo became the first ever electronic music artist to sell out five consecutive nights at the venue, felt like a landmark moment for the electronic music scene that we were proud to be on hand to capture.”

The residency, which formed part of Bonobo’s ‘Fragments’ Live Tour, marked the longest continuous run of performances for a solo musician at the iconic London venue, and the longest run ever for an electronic artist. The tour has been seen by a total audience of over 750,000 across four continents in the past year, between headline shows at Warehouse Project and Lost Village Festival, and four performances in 24 hours at Glastonbury.

Since ‘Fragments’, Bonobo has released three dancefloor singles on his OUTLIER imprint with Ninja Tune – ‘Defender’, ‘ATK’, and ‘Fold’, alongside Jacques Green.

Read DJ Mag’s cover interview with Bonobo around the release of ‘Fragments’ here.