![]() ![]() It gently melts into fading, spectral vocal coos and delicate piano key droplets, a contrast that soon becomes a regular occurrence on the album. “We Disappear” then fades into view, a reflex twitching, body-jacking, techno-crunch-athon with wiry falsettos twisting in the vortex. The sound of traffic, the jangling of keys and a door slamming describes Hopkins’ arrival at Cafe Music studios, at which he busied himself across the eight months spent recording Immunity. But if you think for one second that you let Immunity fade into the background as was possible with some of his previous work, then think again. When they do emerge, it’s usually in a track’s closing moments, together with swathes of field recordings of the ocean or the elements. Immunity takes this even further, those calm, classical moments becoming buried even deeper beneath aggressive blankets of hyper-advanced sound design and fizzling techno. ![]() It may have spun off into the occasional aural meteor storm, but would always return to a soothing center. His previous album for Domino, Insides was far removed from his first two albums, retaining a classical approach to compositions and championing piano and strings but embellishing them with edgier, experimental and dense electronic arrangements and sound design. Immunity is a bold statement of intent regardless of whether it indicates a future direction for Hopkins. Then there were his collaborations with King Creosote (who appears here as well) on the Mercury nominated 2011 Diamond Mine album, a score for the critically acclaimed UK independent movie Monsters and a recent stint supporting Pet Shop Boys at the London O2 on their Electric tour. His work with Brian Eno on the somewhat coolly received Small Craft on a Milk Sea and co-producing duties on Coldplay’s fourth album had already served to raise his profile considerably. In the months since its June release, Jon Hopkins‘ new album Immunity has created major waves, and raised the profile of the limelight-skirting Hopkins himself even further. Immunity takes things even further, those calm, classical moments becoming buried even deeper beneath aggressive blankets of hyper-advanced sound design and fizzling techno. ![]()
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