John Hopkins Announces New Album ‘Ritual’

John Hopkins announces his new album, RITUAL

John Hopkins announces his new album, RITUAL, will drop on August 30th via Domino, along with the news, the electronic musician and producer has shared “RITUAL (evocation).” The album is described as “a 41-minute ceremonial epic built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay. The video for “RITUAL (evocation)” is delivered by Dave Bullivant in collaboration with Hopkins and stars aerial rope performer Bryony Louise Fowler who mirrors the track’s emotions in a unique display.

“I have no idea what I’m doing when I’m composing. I don’t know where it’s coming from, and I don’t know where it’s going, nor does it seem to matter. I just know when it is finished. So all I can really do is feel my way to the end, then try and retrospectively analyze what might be going on, and try and figure out what its purpose is. What is clear is that this one has the structure of a Ritual. I know what that Ritual is for me, but it will be something different for you. It feels important not to be prescriptive about what this Ritual actually is.

“It feels like a tool, maybe even a machine, for opening portals within your inner world, for unlocking things that are hidden and buried. Things that are held in place by the tension in your body. It doesn’t feel like ‘an album’ therefore – more a process to go through, something that works on you. At the same time, it feels like it tells a story. Maybe it’s the story of a process I’m going through, and one that we are all going through. Maybe it’s also the story of creation, destruction and transcendence. Maybe it’s the story of the archetypal hero’s journey – the journey of forgetting and remembering.

“Ultimately though, all I have to say about it is said by the sound.”

– Jon Hopkins on RITUAL

RITUAL will be premiered in spatial audio at London’s ICA on May 12 giving fans an early opportunity to engage with this special album. Pre-ordering the album will give pre-sale access for tickets. A further listening event will take place at Glastonbury Festival on their Ambient stage. Jon Hopkins will headline Green Man Festival this summer alongside appearances at London’s Junction 2 Festival, Bristol Beacon and Brighton’s Corn Exchange.

* RITUAL was born out of a piece of music composed for a project called Dreamachine. Dreamachine was originally conceived through a research and development project, and presented by Collective Act, as part of Unboxed: Creativity in the UK. Designed to celebrate creativity and innovation, the project was funded by the UK Government with support from EventScotland and the Scottish Government, Creative Wales and the Welsh Government, and Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Executive.

John Hopkins
RITUAL
Tracklist

1. part i – altar
2. part ii – palace / illusion
3. part iii – transcend / lament
4. part iv – the veil
5. part v – evocation
6. part vi – solar goddess return
7. part vii – dissolution
8. part viii – nothing is lost

John Hopkins 2024 Tour Dates

Thu. July 25 – Brighton, UK @ The Corn Exchange
Fri. July 26 – Bristol, UK @ Bristol Beacon
Sat. July 27 – London, UK @ Junction 2 Festival
Sat. Aug. 16 – Bristol Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival