Green composed and recorded twelve tracks for it over the past two years. He found musical themes in his collaboration with harpist Lara Somogy, arranger and violinist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, in his own experiments with the Fender Rhodes and in nature.

The result is the most emotionally intense Bonobo record to date, featuring some of the heaviest and most danceable tracks while also including a couple of great ballads. Green recalled, "[...] how much I love crowds and movement and the connection between people." However, this love is not only found in the uptempo rhythms, but also in the melancholic tracks on the record.

There are guest contributions on "Fragments" as well, for example from American singer-songwriter and poet Jamila Woods, Australian-Japanese-born U.S. musician and comedian Joji, musician Kadhja Bonet, New Zealand-Australian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer Jordan Rakei and London-based producer O'Flynn.

With the songs "Rosewoods" and "Tides" with Jamila Woods, two listening impressions appeared in October 2021. The latter was an important starting point for "Fragments," a "catalyst around which the album gradually came together: I knew I had a centerpiece, I knew what everything was going to sound like," Green says of the song.