Renowned British electronic music composer Jon Hopkins will release his new album, "Ritual," on August 30, 2024. The album features the single "Ritual (evocation)" and spans 41 minutes with deep bass, hypnotic drumming, and melodic interplay across eight chapters. Inspired by a 2022 commissioned composition, "Ritual" aims to evoke hidden emotions and experiences in listeners. The album will be previewed in spatial audio at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts before Hopkins headlines at Junction 2 and Green Man festivals.

Renowned electronic music composer Jon Hopkins has announced the forthcoming release of his new album, "Ritual," scheduled to debut on 30th August 2024. Alongside the enchanting video for the single "Ritual (evocation)," the album promises a transformative journey through a 41-minute ceremonial soundscape, marking a pivotal moment in Hopkins’s illustrious 22-year career. To provide an immersive preview, an exclusive advance listening event in spatial audio will be held at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) next month, ahead of Hopkins’s headline performances at the Junction 2 and Green Man festivals this summer.

"Ritual" unfolds as a single piece across eight chapters, blending cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming, and transcendent melodic interplay to explore devotional, empowering, and nurturing soundscapes. Described as the kinetic counterpart to Hopkins’s 2021 release "Music for Psychedelic Therapy," this album encapsulates themes explored throughout his career.

Reflecting on "Ritual," Hopkins shared, “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… It feels like a tool, maybe even a machine, for opening portals within your inner world, for unlocking things that are hidden and buried… It doesn’t feel like ‘an album’ therefore – more a process to go through, something that works on you.”

The album’s genesis traces back to a commissioned composition by Hopkins for the Dreamachine immersive experience in London in 2022, which set the foundational tone for "Ritual." This project, with its ceremonial essence, influenced Hopkins profoundly and shaped the album’s development.

The single "Ritual (evocation)" and its accompanying video, directed by Dave Bullivant with aerial rope performer Bryony Louise Fowler, encapsulates the album’s essence through a captivating audio-visual experience. The track and video promise an epiphanic journey through sound and sight, offering a glimpse into the album’s broader experiential narrative.

Featuring collaborations with long-term associates such as Vylana, 7RAYS, Ishq, Clark, Emma Smith, Daisy Vatalaro, and Cherif Hashizume, "Ritual" emerged from a creative process spanning the latter half of 2023 with initial seeds sown the previous year. The album balances emotional and sonic intensity with a warm, live feel, inviting listeners to immerse themselves in its uninterrupted 41-minute sonic divination.

With its spatial audio premiere at London’s ICA and subsequent listening event at Glastonbury Festival’s Ambient stage, "Ritual" promises a unique auditory experience. Anticipation also builds for Jon Hopkins’ headline appearances at this summer’s Junction 2 and Green Man festivals, along with performances at Bristol Beacon and Brighton’s Corn Exchange.

For further information or to pre-order "Ritual," visit Jon Hopkins’s website.