Jon Hopkins
★★★★
Music For Psychedelic Therapy DOMINO. DL/CD/LP
Techno maven recalibrates with pace-changing South American trip. IMMERSIVE, CinemaScope techno has made Jon Hopkins one of the genre’s most popular proponents. And perhaps explains why he’s hit the reset button with Music For
Psychedelic Therapy. Inspired by and containing sounds from a trip to Ecuadorean caves in 2018, it’s in sync with the rhythms of nature rather than the rhythm of the dancefloor. Notionally a collection of songs, in effect it’s a continuous, slow-moving, hypnotic suite. Entirely beatless, it’s a place where drone, ambient and classical fuse and float away. Rare moments of tumult are quickly doused by beautiful noise. Glowing synth pads, avian chatter, a rainstorm, the crackle of fire are gently applied. Hopkins, a proponent of the benefits of psychedelics, recommends consuming the album while prone, in the dark and using lysergic accompaniment. That’s impractical for most, but even when consumed straight, it’s music that’s soothing and transportive.