Electronic favorite Jon Hopkins last dropped an album in 2021, when he unveiled Music For Psychedelic Therapy. That was his sixth LP, and now his seventh is on the way: Today (April 30), he announced Ritual.
He also shared a video for “Ritual (Evocation),” and the song is cinematic, menacing, and intimidating. The song is actually a portion of the single 41-minute piece that is the album, which a press release says is “personified by depth and contrast” and “taps into an ancient and primal energy.”
Hopkins shared a lengthy statement about the project, saying:
“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. So all I can really do is feel my way to the end, then try and retrospectively analyze what might be going on, and try and figure out what its purpose is. What is clear is that this one has the structure of a Ritual. I know what that Ritual is for me, but it will be something different for you. It feels important not to be prescriptive about what this Ritual actually is.
It feels like a tool, maybe even a machine, for opening portals within your inner world, for unlocking things that are hidden and buried. Things that are held in place by the tension in your body. It doesn’t feel like ‘an album’ therefore – more a process to go through, something that works on you. At the same time, it feels like it tells a story. Maybe it’s the story of a process I’m going through, and one that we are all going through. Maybe it’s also the story of creation, destruction and transcendence. Maybe it’s the story of the archetypal hero’s journey — the journey of forgetting and remembering.
Ultimately though, all I have to say about it is said by the sound.”
Watch the “Ritual (Evocation)” video above and find the Ritual cover art and tracklist below, as well as Hopkins’ upcoming tour dates.
Jon Hopkins’ Ritual Album Cover Artwork
Jon Hopkins’ Ritual Tracklist
1. “Part I — Altar”
2. “Part II — Palace / Illusion”
3. “Part III — Transcend / Lament”
4. “Part IV — The Veil”
5. “Part V — Evocation”
6. “Part VI — Solar Goddess Return”
7. “Part VII — Dissolution”
8. “Part VIII — Nothing Is Lost”
John Hopkins 2024 Tour Dates
07/25 — Brighton, UK @ The Corn Exchange
07/26 — Bristol, UK @ Bristol Beacon
07/27 — London, UK @ Junction 2 Festival
08/16 — Bristol Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
Ritual is out 8/30 via Domino. Find more information here.
