Singularity

The Artist

Jon Hopkins is a British electronic producer, pianist, and composer whose work sits at the crossroads of techno, ambient, and neoclassical music. Trained at the Royal College of Music before pivoting to electronic production, he's collaborated widely with artists like Brian Eno, Coldplay, and King Creosote, giving him a foot in both experimental and pop worlds. His solo output is defined by a signature push-and-pull between bruising, textural techno and hushed, meditative piano pieces, often within the same record. After the breakthrough of Immunity in 2013, which earned a Mercury Prize nomination, expectations were high for what came next. Singularity, released in 2018, arrived five years later as both a continuation and an evolution, deeply shaped by his practice of meditation and psychedelics.

The Album

Singularity was released in May 2018 on Domino Recording Co., self-produced by Hopkins over several years of writing, sound design, and refinement. He's spoken about the album being informed by transcendental meditation and psychedelic experiences, and he built the record so that it flows as one continuous journey, with the closing track resolving back into the tonal center of the opener. The production leans heavily on analog synths, hand-crafted percussion built from field recordings and physical objects, and processed piano, giving the record a tactile, organic feel even at its most aggressive. Structurally, it moves from dense, propulsive techno into extended ambient passages, mirroring an arc of ascent, dissolution, and return. Thematically it's concerned with connection, altered states, and the tension between chaos and stillness.

Listen For

The album as one continuous piece. Hopkins designed the tracks to bleed into each other with no hard stops. Notice how the closing note of "Singularity - Edit" ties back to where the record began.

Percussion built from unusual sources. Much of the drum work on tracks like "Neon Pattern Drum" and "Everything Connected" is assembled from field recordings, breath, and physical objects rather than standard drum machines. Listen for how alive and irregular the hits feel.

The dynamic arc from chaos to stillness. The first half is muscular and abrasive; by "Feel First Life" and "Echo Dissolve" the record has dissolved into piano and voice. Track how the energy dismantles itself across the runtime.

The choral moment in "Feel First Life". After the punishing opening stretch, wordless vocals arrive as an emotional release. It's one of the most exposed, human moments in Hopkins' catalog.

Titles as thematic signposts. "Everything Connected," "Luminous Beings," and "Feel First Life" all point to themes of interconnection and altered perception. The song titles function almost like meditation prompts alongside the music.