Bonobo and Joy Crookes share new single Always on Your Side

Simon Green, better known as Bonobo, has teamed up with London singer Joy Crookes for the new single 'Always on Your Side'. It's the fourth taste of his upcoming eighth studio album 'Distance In Static', out on 11 September via Ninja Tune. Previous previews have included 'Me and You' and 'Drift', and last month saw the release of 'Fire on the Water' featuring Pakistani American singer Arooj Aftab.

Green has been making downtempo beats for over a quarter of a century and alongside his production work has built a solid reputation as a live artist. With 'Always on Your Side' he deliberately goes for a quieter mood than the club oriented side of 'Distance In Static'. The combination of his pared back grooves and Joy Crookes' jazzy sensibility works convincingly: a warm brass section gives the whole thing an intimate, atmospheric quality that feels like late night reflection.

Crookes is far from unknown. In 2020 she was nominated for the BRIT Rising Star Award and her debut album 'Skin' reached the top five of the UK albums chart. 'Always on Your Side' is also her first release since her 2025 album 'Juniper'. Although the track sounds warm and laid back sonically, the lyrics carry a strikingly dark weight. The vulnerability Crookes expresses in her melancholic delivery sits in direct tension with the warm musical surroundings, and it's precisely that contrast that makes the song so effective.

The full album 'Distance In Static' features fourteen tracks and promises a wide range of influences and collaborations. Joining Joy Crookes and Arooj Aftab are Nilüfer Yanya and Japanese singer songwriter Ichiko Aoba. Notably far reaching in its linguistic and cultural scope, the project features lyrics in English, Urdu and Japanese, and draws on historical Iranian samples and recordings of the guzheng, a traditional Chinese string instrument. For fans of Bonobo's work and the broader world of electronic and downtempo music in the Netherlands, 'Distance In Static' is shaping up to be one of the more interesting album releases of the autumn.