Jon Hopkins announces new album Ritual and plans exclusive early listening event in London

Renowned electronic music composer Jon Hopkins has announced the release of his new album, Ritual, set to drop on 30^th August 2024. Accompanied by the mesmerising video for the single Ritual (evocation), the album promises a journey through a 41-minute ceremonial soundscape, marking a pivotal moment in Hopkins’s illustrious 22-year career. To offer an immersive preview, an exclusive early listening event in spatial audio will be hosted at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in the upcoming month, ahead of Hopkins’s headline performances at Junction 2 and Green Man festivals this summer.

Ritual emerges as a single piece unfolding over eight chapters, each interwoven with cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay, exploring the realms of devotional, empowering and nurturing soundscapes. This album is described as the kinetic counterpart to Hopkins’s 2021 release Music for Psychedelic Therapy, encapsulating a culmination of themes explored throughout his career.

In sharing his insights on Ritual, Hopkins stated, “I have no idea what I’m doing when I’m composing. I don’t know where it’s coming from, and I don’t know where it’s going, nor does it seem to matter. I just know when it is finished… It feels like a tool, maybe even a machine, for opening portals within your inner world, for unlocking things that are hidden and buried… It doesn’t feel like ‘an album’ therefore – more a process to go through, something that works on you.”

The album’s conception is rooted in a commissioned composition by Hopkins in 2022 for the Dreamachine immersive experience in London, which set the foundational tone for Ritual. This project, described as ceremonial in its inception, influenced Hopkins with its inherent feeling of intention, leading to the album’s eventual birth.

The Ritual (evocation) single and its accompanying video, directed by Dave Bullivant with aerial rope performer Bryony Louise Fowler, encapsulates the album’s essence through a captivating audio-visual experience. The track and video promise an epiphanic journey through sound and sight, designed to provide a glimpse into the album’s broader experiential narrative.

Featuring collaborations with long-term associates such as Vylana, 7RAYS, Ishq, Clark, Emma Smith, Daisy Vatalaro and Cherif Hashizume, Ritual emerges from a creative process spanning the latter half of 2023 with initial seeds sown the previous year. The album balances emotional and sonic intensity with a warm, live feel, encouraging listeners to immerse themselves in its uninterrupted 41-minute sonic divination.

With its spatial audio premiere at London’s ICA and subsequent listening event at Glastonbury Festival’s Ambient stage, Ritual is poised to offer a unique auditory experience. Anticipation also builds for Jon Hopkins’ headline appearances at this summer’s Junction 2 and Green Man festivals, along with performances at Bristol Beacon and Brighton’s Corn Exchange.

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Image: Imogene Barron

Ritual is released on 30^th August 2024. For further information or to order the album visit Jon Hopkins’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Ritual here: