‘Contact Note’ sees 24 year old Hopkins creating some epic soundscapes that can be listened to as comfortably out of the speakers of Café Del Mar as at a Royal Festival Hall concert, its accessibility not preventing ‘Contact Note’ from being a serious and challenging musical creation.
Intricate beat patterns, deep driving basslines, guitar riffs, gorgeous piano melodies and ethereal vocals lushly produced and pristinely mixed give an instant appeal to his music, from the intense ‘Circle’, the infectious ‘Symmetry’ and ‘100’ drenched in beautiful vintage techno effects, to the melancholic piano of ‘Searchlight’ and the crystalline acoustic guitar of ‘Glasstop’.
Divided in three distinct movements, ‘Contact Note’ slowly evolves into a deep, compelling musical experience concluding with the stunning third part where Jon masters to perfection his skills as a classically trained musician, to give his most abstract work delicate impressionist touches. Classical piano contrasts with drifting atmospheres and twisted rhythms on the dark, edgy and gripping ‘Black And Red’ – to culminate with the waving synths and sumptuous vocals of the blissful ‘Luna Moth’, the perfect end of a glorious sonic adventure.
Catalogue Number: TAO010
‘Insides is a cracking album of shifting ambient moods, riding on the cusp of technology without forgetting emotive credence’ 9/10 FUTURE MUSIC
Opalescent, the debut album from Mercury Music Prize and Ivor Novello award nominated artist Jon Hopkins has been remastered and reissued for the first time on vinyl for its 15 year Anniversary in a special edition 2 LP gatefold with liner notes.
“An excellent end to Hopkins’ stellar year” – 8/10 NME