Jon Hopkins - Singularity

Rating:

It’s a beautiful piece when listened as a whole, but one that loses its power when taken in parts.

Classical music has often been seen as a constant attempt to create new sounds, composing epic suites that tell stories or conjure moods without words. In this sense, electronic music innovators like Brian Eno, Nils Frahm and Jon Hopkins can be considered in a very similar school.

But where Eno and Frahm create sweeping electronic landscapes, Jon Hopkins prefers to take you on a journey. His latest album, 'Singularity', is one best devoured like a full classical suite. Everything here is linked, which is both the album’s strength and its downfall.

The opening cacophony of dissonant synths that kicks off the album sounds like the tuning of an orchestra preparing to play their big suite. As 'Singularity'’s pounding beat begins to fall apart, like rotting brick from a derelict building, a beautiful yet mournful piano strikes up. This is the battle between the urban and the natural; Hopkins’ own Koyaanisqatsi.

'Emerald Rush' and 'Neon Pattern Drum', compared to 'Singularity'’s harsh tone, still bang but in softer, more psychedelic ways as if escaping to the forest for a little trip.