Buzzin Electronic Music

Jon Hopkins – Light Through The Veins – single review

Jon Hopkins' new single: Light Through The Veins

Jon Hopkins’ new single Light Through The Veins is the first from his new album Insides – his first in four years and his first on Double Six records, a branch of Domino.

‘Light Through The Veins’ comes in at nine minutes. It is an epic piece of electronica, one which Coldplay were so taken with on hearing it that they used a reworked version on their latest album Viva La Vida and got Jon Hopkins to open for them on the final six months of their tour.

If their endorsement isn’t enough, then you can add mine to it, too. The opening of ‘Light Through The Veins’ is appropriately evocative of flashing lights or the pulsing and rushing of blood through the veins.

The crescendo isn’t rushed though, and the sense of anticipation that builds through the track leads to the unbearable expectation of an ecstatic, climactic peak, not followed by an explosion, however, but by the continuation of this peak, the track becoming a hypnotic and trance-like groove before finally relaxing into a melodic piece of ambient electronica.

‘Light Through The Veins’ is an exciting and beautiful release from Jon Hopkins and foreshadows a great new album, Insides.

‘Light Through The Veins’ will be released on 12” Vinyl and as a digital download on April 27th.
Jon Hopkins will be playing on May 15th in London at the Roundhouse (Short Circuit, A Taste Of Sonar/Erol Alkan Presents Disco 3000, with Moderat, Roland Olbeter and Tim Exile) and on the 26th at Dingwalls as a headline show.

Visit his website here and his MySpace here.