Recorded in one take on the upright he has had since childhood, Hopkins’ version of “Dawn Chorus” is a beautifully melancholic reinvention of the original.
Hopkins explains: “I felt such bliss the first time I heard this piece - it seemed so mysterious and hypnotic, oblique but warm. I thought there was so much beauty in that chord sequence that there was room to explore it on the piano and see what grew from it.
"One day in early April when everything was particularly quiet and surreal outside, I went into my studio for the first time in weeks and ended up recording the whole thing in one take. I left it very raw and upfront, with just some sub bass and vocal drones in the background. The whole thing was done in a day and was a very cathartic experience.”
Earlier in the year, Hopkins shared a new original track, “Singing Bowl (Ascension)” which was premiered as part of a specially curated 24-hour long playlist for Spotify. Designed with deep meditation experiences in mind, the piece perfectly fits into Jon’s transcendent selections.
