Jon Hopkins
The Corn Exchange, Brighton

TECHNO is more commonly associated with four on the floor beats (repetitive to the unconverted), high decibel levels (thoughtfully, free earplugs are available at the venue) and crowds pumping their fists in the air. It is not generally considered capable of evoking a transcendental state...unless you’re listening to Jon Hopkins.

An utterly unique voice in electronic music, Hopkins is a classically trained composer who takes inspiration from the spiritual and meditative — he himself practices transcendental meditation, influences of which can be found in his works. 

His last album, 2021’s ground-breaking Music For Psychedelic Therapy — its title a nod, perhaps, to his one-time collaborator Brian Eno — features a talk from the late spiritual teacher Ram Dass that Hopkins sets to music.

Upcoming album Ritual, a devotional ambient symphony, continues the theme, and Hopkins’s latest tour has been a smattering of immersive “listening experiences” — including at London’s ICA and Glastonbury festival — and DJ sets aiming to prove, as tonight, that meditation and rave are not mutually exclusive.

The marriage of the two comes to its joyous apex on Luminous Beings, off 2018’s critically acclaimed album Singularity, where a crescendoing techno march soars to euphoric highs of plaintive piano chords and strings.

It soon becomes apparent that the scales are tipped more towards the rave in tonight’s two-hour set and is less of a showcase of Ritual, which some may have hoped to hear more of. But for those with the energy to dance the night away, there are no dud notes from this master of his craft.

Hopkins performs at the Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons, Wales, August 16.
Ritual is released on Domino Records on August 30