Bleep

Jon Hopkins’ rise to wider recognition has been gradual but richly deserved. Following the critical acclaim of ‘Immunity’ his soundtrack work on ‘How I Live Now’ has seen him work with Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan on ‘Garden’s Heart’ and combine ominous, ambient soundscapes with pulsing electronic shifts and wistful, delicate piano lines. They flow through ‘The River’, pensively plays out on the strings and keys of ‘Taken Away’ and ‘The Hawk’, and gloriously comes to life on the gradual crescendo of ‘Escape’. Elsewhere the tensions injected in the eerie ‘Distant Fire’ and the fear of ‘Hunted’ but those moments of terror only serve to underline that this is a work of real poise and beauty.