Jon Hopkins - Insides Album Review

Review of Jon Hopkins album Insides.

'Insides' has been in construction since as far back as 2005 and Jon Hopkins has used the services of a multitude of musicians including Leo Abrahams, whose album 'The Grape and The Grain' I reviewed and loved a couple months ago for contactmusic.

You may also have heard Hopkins' work before on Coldplay's 'Vida La Vida'. The closing track of their album is a re-worked version of his first single from this album 'Light Through The Veins'. They liked his work that much they even took him on tour with them to open the shows.

What Hopkins' does so well if fuse classical music with ripped up nasty drum beats, that provides an intelligent and intriguing sound which has a feel that it has been crafted by a film score composer. Some of the tracks reportedly contain 800 sounds layered over 128 tracks, a huge song file indeed! Just the ability to layer so many tracks over one another without it sounding like a jumble of incoherent noise is a sign that Hopkins' is a true professional.

The overall feel to the album os quite dark and ominous, and you could see Hopkins' teaming up with people like Massive Attack to great effect. The feel of a film score is reiterated from the mixing of the album; each tracks flows into the next seamlessly.

This is a perfect album for those melancholic times when you just want to sit on your own with your earphones in and not think about much. 'Insides' is a huge swirling, sinister and celestial assembly of compositions.

Rating: 8/10

Pablo Roffey