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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
Here, he has pushed himself into new directions while keeping true to himself, and his back catalogue. This is Hopkins’ strongest album to date. It is also his bravest. Which is saying something indeed.
90
Music for Psychedelic Therapy is a magical union of nature and creativity, a space where the mind can open, and do so with transportive beauty.
90
Music For Psychedelic Therapy is a real accomplishment, otherwordly escapism that’s irresistible for the mind, body and soul.
80
There's a sense of journey here, and while its New Age themes may dissuade some, Hopkins affirms his genius for fashioning unparalleled landscapes from sound.
80
Stripping away both drums and lyrics from this project, Hopkins has attentively crafted a room of silence so brilliantly and ironically loud with endless interpretation. Across this album you have this hallucinatory, hypnagogic project, itching to connect with nature, and bound to have you reflecting on something.
80
It floats, drifts, and rips apart, and yet when it whips up a storm you are still centered and calm because the music never lets go of your hand.
80
Without being in any way didactic, this is music as metaphysics, seeking transformation of mind, body and spirit through sound that subtly shifts us from ego to transcendence, from singularity to the universal.
80
Hopkins, а proponent of the benefits of psychedelics, recommends consuming the album while prone, in the dark and using lysergic accompaniment. That’s impractical for most, but even when consumed straight, it’s music that’s soothing and transportive.
75
Once again, Hopkins invites us to experience the meeting of heaven and earth and be transformed.
74
Inspired by an expedition into Ecuador’s ancient caves, the vaunted techno producer presents an immersive ambient album designed to accompany guided trips.
70
Music for Psychedelic Therapy isn't as overwhelming as Hopkins' previous two albums, but it's still an enlightening trip inspired by a lifetime of profound experiences.
70
Suffice to say Hopkins has channelled a celestial stillness with ‘Music for Psychedelic Therapy’; in a world that is seemingly bat shit crazy right now, this LP is just the tonic for our frazzled minds.
70
It’s yet more evidence that a modern resurgence of music that used to be tagged New Age has found much value in one of the most hated of genres, and that like a pool of dark water, there can be no end to the complexity lying just under a deceptively placid surface.
60
‘Music for Psychedelic Therapy’ feels like it’ll likely be seen as an indulgence rather than an integral piece of the Jon Hopkins canon.
60
In among all this pervasive beauty (which tends towards expansive prettiness and resonant succour rather than the sterner, more austere end of the ambience spectrum), it feels like only the eight-minute apex track Deep in the Glowing Heart rearranges the listener’s molecules in a transformational way.
60
Hopkins’ definition of “psychedelic” is unlikely to equate with others’, and this back-to-the-womb, beatless New Age experiment may be more likely to inspire one’s enrolment at a midweek yoga class than seriously challenge any musical preconceptions.
As the sound resonates in my mind, a tear rolls down my cheek, my ego has dissolved, I am finally free.
There is no anxiety, no panic, no dread. Only bliss and mindfulness.
My body melts through the ground; I became one with the realm that created me.
The fog has lifted.
To exist, is the quintessence of blessings.
This album is like a warm embrace to my unstill mind.
Total ambience was the logical progression for Jon Hopkins, as while he often struck gold, the progressive electronic schtick he has wielded seems to only show brief glimpses of having significant punch. Despite solid core elements, the music from Immunity and Singularity flip-flopped dramatically between pioneering moments of wonder, and patience-testing time-killing. Music for Psychedelic Therapy is full-blown ambience, doing away with glitchy detours and calculated rhythms. This is truly a ... read more
Electronic producer Jon Hopkins is a master at creating electronic music that is creative, captivating and tranquil at the same time (as evident from great albums like 2013’s Immunity and 2018’s Singularity), but on his latest release Music For Psychedelic Therapy, Hopkins remains handily within the tranquil zone as this is meant to be meditative music than anything else. With easy segues between tracks, warm synths pads flowing things along and the occasional presence of nature ... read more
Man... I admit that I might just be a sucker for anything ambient and remotely psychadelic. I will also admit that if there is a genre of music I actively listen to that I find difficult to rate, due to me literally ignoring any and all "objective" measurements and just "feeling" the music, that genre would be ambient.
But when an album like this can keep me fully engaged with it for the full hour of runtime, to the point of me completely losing track of time and any and ... read more
For what it is, it's pretty good! It's hard to be especially wowed by ambient music, but there are definitely occasional standouts here. I basically really liked everything aside from Tayos Caves, but that's close to 20-minutes of the album so...
Electronic producer Jon Hopkins is a master at creating electronic music that is creative, captivating and tranquil at the same time (as evident from great albums like 2013’s Immunity and 2018’s Singularity), but on his latest release Music For Psychedelic Therapy, Hopkins remains handily within the tranquil zone as this is meant to be meditative music than anything else. With easy segues between tracks, warm synths pads flowing things along and the occasional presence of nature ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | Welcome 6:22 with 7RAYS | 80 |
| 2 | Tayos Caves, Ecuador I 6:15 | 79 |
| 3 | Tayos Caves, Ecuador II 5:07 | 75 |
| 4 | Tayos Caves, Ecuador III 7:39 | 79 |
| 5 | Love Flows over Us in Prismatic Waves 6:52 | 74 |
| 6 | Deep in the Glowing Heart 8:51 | 78 |
| 7 | Ascending, Dawn Sky 9:22 with 7RAYS | 77 |
| 8 | Arriving 4:35 with 7RAYS | 75 |
| 9 | Sit Around the Fire 8:22 with Ram Dass, East Forest | 87 |
Total Length: 1 hour, 3 minutes
Year End Lists
| #17 | / | Magnetic |
| #28 | / | musicOMH |
| #67 | / | PopMatters |
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Added on: September 2, 2021