by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

RITUAL, the latest from the ever-ambitious Jon Hopkins, is described as ‘a 41-minute electronic symphony built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay’.

The project was conceived in 2022, when Hopkins received a commission for London’s Dreamachine experience. He wrote a shorter piece that became the cell from which RITUAL grew, with the help of collaborators Vylana, 7RAYS, Ishq, Clark, Emma Smith, Daisy Vatalaro and Cherif Hashizume.

What’s the music like?

RITUAL is a compelling piece of work – and a mindful treat. Best experienced in a single sitting, it grows from a small cell, a single pitch of ‘G’ – and a very similar opening to that of friend Brian Eno’s Reflection album.

Soon the differences become more pronounced, and Hopkins gathers the forces at his disposal – wordless voices, sonorous bass, slow moving drones at both ends of the audible scale, and rising energy levels, such as on the palace / illusion section, where a steady throb emanates from the bass drum.

The music expands still further, reaching its ultimate apex on solar goddess return, where the bass is joined by a bold treble and a rush of white noise, like walking outside and standing under a starry sky. Soon the bottom drops out of the sound, the listener left suspended through dissolution, before nothing is lost offers consolation through its piano loop.

Does it all work?

It does – thanks to a firm grip on the structure, Hopkins allowing the music to move at a natural pace.

Is it recommended?

It is. Jon Hopkins is becoming a very impressive long form composer, his credentials surely leading him towards a full-blown orchestral piece before long, bigger even than the music heard in his BBC Proms concert in 2023. RITUAL works both as a serious piece of keenly structured music, and as a musical mind cleanser. A very fine piece of work.

For fans of… Ólafur Arnalds, Jóhann Jóhannsson, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Max Richter

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Published post no.2,295 – Sunday 8 September 2024