The North Borders

The North Borders is the fifth studio album by British musician Bonobo. It was due for release on 1 April 2013, but was released early on 21 March in digital format after a promotional copy was leaked.^[12] The album charted at number 29 on the UK Albums Chart. As of 20 January 2017 it had sold 56,993 copies in UK.^[13]

The North Borders
Studio album by Bonobo
Released	21 March 2013
Genre	Electronic Trip hop ambient chill-out
Length	58:43
Label	Ninja Tune (ZEN195)
Producer	Bonobo
Bonobo chronology
Black Sands (2010) The North Borders (2013) Migration (2017)
Singles from The North Borders
"Cirrus" Released: 21 January 2013 "First Fires" Released: 20 May 2013

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Austin Chronicle	[3]
Clash	9/10[4]
Consequence of Sound	C+[5]
Drowned In Sound	7/10[6]
Exclaim!	7/10[7]
musicOMH	[8]
Pitchfork	6.0[9]
Q	[10]
PopMatters	[11]

Packaging

The artwork for North Borders and its singles were created by Australian art director and album artist Leif Podhajsky.^[14]

Track listing

Digital download and CD

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"First Fires" (featuring Grey Reverend)	Simon Green, Larry D. Brow	4:38
2.	"Emkay"	Green	5:25
3.	"Cirrus"	Green	5:52
4.	"Heaven for the Sinner" (featuring Erykah Badu)	Green, Erica Abi Wright	4:09
5.	"Sapphire"	Green	4:47
6.	"Jets"	Green	4:34
7.	"Towers" (featuring Szjerdene)	Green, Szjerdene	3:36
8.	"Don't Wait"	Green	5:17
9.	"Know You"	Green	4:05
10.	"Antenna"	Green	3:32
11.	"Ten Tigers"	Green	4:03
12.	"Transits" (featuring Szjerdene)	Green, Szjerdene	4:20
13.	"Pieces" (featuring Cornelia)	Green, Cornelia Dahlgren	4:27

Vinyl

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"First Fires" (featuring Grey Reverend)	Simon Green, Larry D. Brow	4:38
2.	"Emkay"	Green	5:25
3.	"Don't Wait"	Green	5:17
4.	"Cirrus"	Green	5:52
5.	"Heaven for the Sinner" (featuring Erykah Badu)	Green, Erica Abi Wright	4:09
6.	"Towers" (featuring Szjerdene)	Green, Szjerdene	3:36
7.	"Jets"	Green	4:34
8.	"Antenna"	Green	3:32
9.	"Know You"	Green	4:05
10.	"Ten Tigers"	Green	4:03
11.	"Sapphire"	Green	4:47
12.	"Transits" (featuring Szjerdene)	Green, Szjerdene	4:20
13.	"Pieces" (featuring Cornelia)	Green, Cornelia Dahlgren	4:27

Charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	29
UK Dance Albums Chart	4
UK Independent Albums Chart	4

Trivia

• The track "Ten Tigers" is probably named after the Ten Tigers of Canton.
• The track "Cirrus" was featured as the closing song of the pilot episode for the AMC show Halt and Catch Fire.^[15]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[16]	Silver	60,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
2. Jeffries, David (1 April 2013). "AllMusic review". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
3. Winkie, Luke. "Bonobo". Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
4. Aaron, David (26 March 2013). "Clash review". Clash. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
5. Staples, Derek (1 April 2013). "Consequence of Sound review". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
6. Waplington, Kat (April 2013). "Drowned In Sound review". Drowned In Sound. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
7. Hampson, Ashley. "Exclaim! review". Exclaim!. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
8. Follows, Ruth (26 March 2013). "musicOMH review". musicOMH. Archived from the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
9. Saxelby, Ruth. "Bonobo: The North Borders". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
10. "Q review". Q: 96. May 2013.
11. Aspray, Benjamin. "PopMatters review". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
12. "Statement on 'The North Borders' Early Digital Release". Ninja Tune. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
13. "Official Charts Analysis: The xx claim No.1 spot with third album I See You". Music Week. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
14. Podhajsky, Leif. "Bonobo - 'The North Borders'". leifpodhajsky.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014.
15. Perkins, Dennis. "Halt And Catch Fire: "I/O"". TV Club. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
16. "British album certifications – Bonobo – The North Borders". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

External links

• Bonobo - The North Borders, review by BBC
• The North Borders by Bonobo, review by Ninja Tune
• Late Night Tales: Bonobo at MusicBrainz (list of releases)