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Sep 09, 2024 Issue #73 - Maya Hawke and Nilüfer Yanya By Scotty Dransfield

What is music for—what is its intended use? This may seem a broad or a strange question, but it’s one that seems to occupy Jon Hopkins’ mind. His 2018 album Singularity, a mind-expanding electronic exploration of heightened consciousness, was his last release that you could call a collection of songs. The follow-up, 2021’s Music for Psychedelic Therapy, had its intended purpose right there in its title, and that bore out in its listening experience, too. Hopkins’ new album, RITUAL, follows that pattern. It’s incredible music, with a jaw-dropping attention to detail and layers both acoustic and electric, but those looking for a return to the album format as a collection of discrete songs may have to adjust their expectations.

Although Hopkins hasn’t specified this to the press, the experience of listening to RITUAL makes it seem like he’s once again named an album after its intention. It sounds like it was meant to soundtrack a meditation session, or a deep exercise routine—something centered on focus and intent. It’s not meant for background music, as much of its running time is an exercise in prolonged, sustained tension. And though there are track titles for the various movements of music, it really is a single, 41-minute long piece that is meant to be listened to all at once. There are some audible signifiers of an actual magick ritual going on: it begins with an inhale and a gong, and then bells, a deep, sustained tone, and the clicking of a lighter, presumably lighting a candle. At the end of the album, there is the faint sound of a purring cat. In between are roughly three movements of electronic composition. The first contains angelic wordless vocals over twinkly synth chords, building into the second, which rides a repeated percussive motif over intensely building saw synths to an awe-inspiring climax. That release gives way to a finale of beautiful ambience and a placid piano melody to take it home.

It may not be fun, exactly, but taken in the right context, RITUAL is an album experience unlike any other. It’s not for the club, and it is absolutely not meant to be broken up and distributed into playlists, but it has a purpose and a direction of its own, and it leaves the listener to decide what to use it for for themselves. With this album, Jon Hopkins continues to push the boundaries of what electronic composition can be. (www.jonhopkins.co.uk)

Author rating: 8.5/10