Album Review: Jon Hopkins - Immunity

Jon Hopkins
Immunity
Rating: Woof Daddy

Over the course of three solo releases, UK producer Jon Hopkins made beautiful yet fairly unmemorable techno that never seemed to push him into the next level of electronic artists. It wasn't until high profile collaborations with Brian Eno, Coldplay and Underworld and his collaboration with King Creosote on the 2011 Mercury Prize nominated album Diamond Mine that finally started getting him name recognition. These opportunities seemingly have jump started his creative juices, leading him to create his best album so far, and not only that, one of the best techno releases of the year. Immunity is a self-described journey through a night of clubbing, taking the listener through the highs and lows of a evening out on the town, where music is both a release, a tormentor, and ultimately a savior.

Starting off with the muted hums and whispers of "We Disappear," the album begins hesitantly before the first squeltchy beats rise from the haze, bell-like synths hovering in the background, the track rising to meet the road as all the disparate elements of the song join together. As the track slowly fades out, it bleeds into the driving force of dancefloor thumper "Open Eye Signal," an almost 8 minute blast of pounding drum programming, buzzing basslines, and rising waves of synths, acknowledging the night has begun in earnest.



"Breathe This Air" brings in some confusion to the journey, a hesitation if you will, the beats dropping out into a lovely piano interlude, as if the night's party favors are slowly taking root, with the euphoria growing and expanding as the crunch of the beats come back into the forefront.



The night fully comes into its own with the dark, pulsating "Collider" which pushes and pulls against swirling synths and clattering, pounding drum beats, all merging into a massive head rush of sounds.



The back half of the record is definitely the comedown portion of the night, the dance floor/club/bar receding into the background, memories of the night swirling in the head, the good and the bad choices being relived over and over again. "Abandon Window" feels like the cab ride home or to another destination, stark piano chords mirroring the street lights flashing by.



Glitchy programming and more stark piano chords flow through "Form By Firelight," masking the confusion of the comedown, while a moment of clarity comes through on the epic rush of "Sun Harmonics," where angelic voices merge with a steady, pulsating beat, the emergence from confusion into the light.



While the final, title track "Immunity" brings the evening to a close, haunting piano lines glide over a backwards masked clank of percussion, as King Creosote's wordless vocals create a Sigur Ros' like spell over the proceedings, eyes slowly closing, the journey at an end.



Based on his previous output, I wasn't expecting anything as transforming as Immunity, and it still blows me away how beautiful and brilliant it is. The pacing and flow of the record is almost perfect, each track placed for ultimate impact, an amazing journey to take. With this lovely record, Hopkins jumps into the same line as artists like Four Tet and Burial, able to create lasting and moving full-fledged sonic worlds that you can immerse yourself in. In a still early year, the amazing records keep coming, and Mr. Hopkins joins the race for album of the year.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.