How a Photo Walk With Jon Hopkins' Singularity Became My Awakening
How a Photo Walk With Jon Hopkins' Singularity Became My Awakening
Finding Unexpected Depth in Jon Hopkins' Beats While Immersed in the Calm of Moesgaard's Winter Landscape
I've been listening to Jon Hopkins' new song on loop.
I should warn you that this is one of my recurrent behaviours.
Occasionally, I obsess over a song or an album, trying to etch it into my memory, though I have no formal music education. It’s a delightful compulsion.
His track 'Ritual (Evocation)' is the latest to captivate me. As I listened, I realized I’ve been a fan of his work for nearly a decade.”
I'll just say it: Jon Hopkins has completely transformed how I appreciate techno and electronic music.
Back in the mid-90s in Spain, when techno was taking off, my die-hard metalhead and grunge preferences barred electronic beats from my CD collection.
Bands like Metallica, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains dominated my playlist, leaving no room for what was then a novel form of creativity to me.
In hindsight, that was a foolish oversight.
Who is Jon Hopkins?
Jon Hopkins is an English musician, producer, and composer, well known for his eclectic and innovative electronic music.
Born on August 15, 1979 - just a year before yours truly - in Kingston upon Thames, England, Hopkins began his career playing keyboards for Imogen Heap and later collaborated with notable artists such as Brian Eno, Coldplay, and David Holmes, which I discovered very late in my life. Better late than never I say.
His early life was marked by a fascination with electronic music, which he discovered through early house music on the radio at the age of seven - which in my head is astonishing.
He started programming MIDI material on his first computer, an Amiga 500, at 14, which is incredible, and began creating electronic compositions on a low-level professional Roland synth at 15.
Jon Hopkins' music has undergone significant evolution over the years, reflecting his (incredible) growth as an artist and his exploration of various electronic music styles.
His early work, such as Opalescent (2001) and Contact Note (2004), showcased his ability to craft melodic and atmospheric electronic compositions. These albums were characterized by their use of piano and synthesizers, often blending elements of ambient, downtempo, and IDM (Intelligent Dance Music).
By the late 2000s, Hopkins ventured into dance-oriented, club-friendly territory. His third album, Insides (2009), includes tracks such as 'Light Through The Veins' and 'Insides,' showcasing a shift towards dynamic and rhythmic beats.
This shift towards a more dance-oriented style continued with Immunity(2013), which included tracks like "We Disappear" and "Open Eye Signal." These songs showcased Hopkins' capacity to craft infectious, dancefloor-friendly beats while maintaining his signature atmospheric and melodic sensibilities.
In the 2018, Hopkins released Singularity, which further solidified his reputation as a versatile - almost avant garde - electronic music artist. This album featured a mix of more introspective and ambient tracks, such as "Everything Connected" and "Luminous Spaces," alongside more energetic and dance-oriented songs like "Emerald Rush" and "Collider."
Singularity demonstrated Hopkins' ability to balance his diverse musical influences and create a cohesive, engaging album.
Music for Psychedelic Therapy, released in 2021, marked a new direction in his music. This album is characterized by its use of more ambient and atmospheric textures, often incorporating elements of psychedelic and experimental music. The album's tracks, such as "Sit Around The Fire" and "A Gathering Of The Tribe," showcase Hopkins' continued exploration of electronic music and his ability to create music that is both introspective and engaging.
What I admire the most is, throughout his career, Jon Hopkins has demonstrated a willingness to experiment and evolve as an artist. His music has consistently pushed the boundaries of electronic music, incorporating elements of various styles and genres to create a unique and captivating soundscape.
His work has been recognized with numerous awards and nominations, including a Grammy nomination for Singularity and nominations for the Mercury Prize for Immunity and Diamond Mine.
Hopkins has an incredible ability to transcend genres, blending digital coldness with subtle, bucolic textures, and his live performances are often described as visceral, generous, and charged with a rapt, sensuous beauty.
Arriving, from the Music for Psychedelic Therapy album*,* was playing while my wife was giving birth to my son.
I cannot describe how grateful I am for his music, I’ll try anyway. Jon Hopkins’ Singularity changed my life forever on a day at the end of 2019.
Singularity, Moesgaard and a Spiritual Photo Walk .
56.090086476280035, 10.22144176157265
Returning to late 2019, just before the pandemic, I ventured into Moesgaard, a stunning forest near Aarhus, camera in hand.
I put on my bulky headphones to isolate myself from the natural sounds - a mistake that I don’t regret - and started to walk while listening to Jon Hopkins’ Singularity Album.
I was on my own for an hour and fifteen minutes, listening to the tracks, one by one, as my heart raced and calmed down, listening to the full album on a beautiful winter day.
That day, at that precise moment, with that winter light, I had a profound and deep spiritual experience that made me reflect on my own individuality and place on Earth.
This feeling, this emotion it is now intrinsic to my consciousness. It is the wisdom of knowing that ALL LIFE is connected. I understood the butterfly effect means.
For a brief period of time I stayed in sync with my surroundings, I could perceive the patterns of the cold wind bouncing the trees.
I was able to map the colour palette in the forest, the birds chirping in the background.
I remember closing my eyes for 5 minutes while listening to “Feel First Life” playing.
It hit me, like only a few experiences in my lifetime have - my father’s death, my grandma’s death, kissing my wife on our 2nd date, holding my son for the first time -.
I felt at peace with myself. I felt one with everything for 5 glorious minutes, sitting in a field, the sun bathing my face, and I cried peacefully.
During the hour and fifteen minutes of listening to Singularity, I took around 200 shots.
Below, you can find a selection of 20 from this session. Each one is associated with a particular feeling from that day.
The same day, when I came back home. Exhilarated and overwhelmed by a wave of contradictory thoughts. I got a paper and wrote a manifesto that to this day, I try to abide to. Here it is.
Manifesto 39 | 14 guiding principles
Be human.
Love unconditionally.
Develop critical thinking and empathy. Ask, don’t judge. Repeat.
Question your own truth.
Encourage others to cultivate creativity.
Be surrounded by cognitive diversity.
Apply consistency to inconsistency or vice-versa.
Remove barriers to sustainability, creativity and understanding.
Start, learn, fall and back again.
Learn from everyone.
Respect everyone.
Share the journey with others. Listen to theirs.
Aim for the stars, visit Earth often.
Pay it forward.
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Thank you for reading and staying along.
Listen to Jon Hopkins. I’ll leave here my favorite 3 albums. Until next time. By any art necessary.