JON HOPKINS

IMMUNITY (Domino)

18/20

Anyone who was exposed to the wonderful fragility and heartfelt range of emotion expressed on Jon Hopkins and King Creosote’s glorious Diamond Mine will find instrumental solace on the second half of Hopkins’ latest effort, Immunity, in which he takes his seat at the piano once more. Hopkins’ all encompassing musical compositions have come to define him, and if his position at electronica’s top table was justified by 2009’s Insides, it is now surely set to be cemented with Immunity, an album that shows he can accomplish roughly anything within the ‘electronic’ bracket with an astonishing level of competence. The album is roughly split down the middle with the opening four tracks pushing his tougher side, before the engulfing ambience of Abandon Window settles you into the second half, as sparse keys rub against a sonic scape that sucks you dry in the most engulfing void.. However, it’s the dynamic nature of these techno influenced productions in the first half that pulsate the senses with such tremendous power. Opener We Disappear is a sluggish fusion of noise and detached electronic bleeps. Open Eye Signal, with its punishing, hypnotic, pitch-shifting modular synth line, warps and disseminates across a driving techno beat and Collider, with its slow pulse, is a main room soarer with a backbone lesser producers could only dream about. When the album departs from the more meaty material it’s almost as if he’s showing off. Sun Harmonics is driven but tethered by melancholic keys, and despite its 11 minutes, continues to caress you with its beauty without ever getting boring. Album closer Immunity is a return to the piano and sounds more human and fragile than ever, with comparisons to Sigur Ros an inevitability. In an electronic music world where producers can command huge fees for releasing one ‘banger’, Jon Hopkins is a musician who specialises in composition above production. Immunity, so rich in emotion and craftsmanship, is an essential antidote to the quick fix.