Culture

Rating: 5/5

Producing for Coldplay. Collaborating with Brian Eno. Scoring films. Over the course of the last decade, London-based producer Jon Hopkins has built himself an impressive CV. However, almost all of his work has been on the periphery of or in cooperation with other artists. This output has been admirable, but never enough to make a name for himself. Immunity changes all of that. It marks the point where Jon Hopkins steps out from the wings and boldly takes centre stage. It is the first true Jon Hopkins album, and coincidentally the finest album I have heard all year.

One could describe Immunity as an electronic album, but that term betrays both the warmth and diversity the album holds. Glitchy opener “We Disappear” is something of a red herring, suggesting an album much harsher than the songs that follow. “Open Eye Signal” and “Breathe This Air” are far more representative of Immunity’s sound, the former a deep house juggernaut that subtly and thrillingly evolves over eight minutes and the latter a brooding Burial-style dub interwoven with a melancholy piano refrain. Piano is regularly the focal point, such as on stunning instrumental “Abandon Window,” where a series of heartbreaking chords are set against the distant sound of fireworks. Despite several stops into quieter, more organic territory, Immunity never loses its momentum or focus.

Perhaps the album’s greatest strength is its ability to both channel other artists and yet feel wholly unique. I could identify within Immunity qualities of a dozen other musicians – the mathematical precision of Autechre, the restlessness of Flying Lotus, the ethereality of Boards Of Canada – but never do these qualities feel plagiarised. Even at the album’s most imitative, namely on the shamelessly Sigur Rós-like title track, Immunity is its own beast.

Immunity is both the best album I’ve heard in 2013 and the finest example of “electronic” music I’ve come across in some time. I’d have to look back several years to find an album that struck me as quite this engaging, this colourful, this perfect. There’s a feeling Immunity gives me that few albums ever have, most potently on 12-minute rainforest odyssey “Sun Harmonics.” And that feeling is bliss.