''Singularity'' is the fifth studio album by English

electronic musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

and producer

Jon Hopkins Jonathan Julian Hopkins (born 15 August 1979) is an English musician and producer who writes and performs electronic music. He began his career playing keyboards for Imogen Heap, and has produced but also contributed to albums by Brian Eno, Co ...

, released on 4 May 2018 through Domino Records. It was announced on 6 March 2018, with the release of the first single, "Emerald Rush". The second single, "Everything Connected", was released on 25 April, while the third, "Singularity", was released on 4 May, along with the album. The album follows Hopkins's companion previous album, ''

Immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

''. It was released to critical acclaim and was nominated at the 2019 Grammy Awards for

Best Dance/Electronic Album The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards — a ceremony that was established in 1958 — honor quality dance music, dance and electronica albums in any given year. The award was first presented ...

Critical reception

''Singularity'' received widespread acclaim from critics upon its release. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". It received critical acclaim from a few publications including ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', and '' The Skinny'', who each attributed it a perfect score. ''

musicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

'' gave the album high praise, saying: "From the beginning this is music that sweeps the listener away, an aural massage that takes care of the hair standing on end at the top of the head to the pair of heels itching to start moving on the dance floor." ''

XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in S ...

'' compared the album to Hopkins' previous album ''

'', saying: "Hopkins' merging of emotional material with hypnotic, physical grooves appeared effortless. Singularity continues in the vein of Immunity, though its depth of feeling is greater, and rhythmic power more potent."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

was more positive of ''Singularity'' than Hopkins' previous album ''Immunity'', stating: "...filled with frayed feedback, skillfully crafted beats, and gentle piano melodies, as well as the occasional breathy vocals. This time out, there seems to be an extra shot of adrenaline added, and the album seems to reflect a deeper spiritual quest, both inwards and outwards." Stephen Carlick of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' praised the album saying, "It's an album that, in its best moments, finds one of electronic music's great minds operating in peak form." ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' was critical of the album, saying: "Too often, though, you’re left wishing for the thuggish bass and head-severing hi-hats of less cerebral dance music. There’s not enough food for the brain or fuel for the feet here".

Track listing

Personnel

– music, record producer, engineering, mixing ;Additional Personnel *

Leo Abrahams Leo Matthew Abrahams (born 28 November 1977) is an English musician, composer and producer. He has collaborated with Brian Eno, Katie Melua, Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barât, Regina Spektor, Jon Hopkins and Paul Simon. After attending th ...

– guitar (track 1), orchestra

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

(track 5) * Emma Smith – strings (track 1, 2, 4, 5, 8) * Sasha Lewis – programming (track 1 to 4) * London Voices – choir (track 5) * Jon Thorne – double bass (track 4) * Lisa Elle – vocals (track 2) * Josephine Stephenson – vocals (track 5) *

Olivia Chaney Olivia Chaney (born 1982) is an English folk singer, pianist, guitarist, harmonium player and songwriter. Her debut solo album, ''The Longest River'', was released on Nonesuch Records in 2015. Her follow-up solo album, ''Shelter'', was released ...

– vocals (track 5) * Oliver Griffiths – vocals (track 5) * Ben Perry –

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

masters (track 5) * Terry Edwards – chorus masters (track 5) * Austin Tufts – drum (track 8)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2018 albums Jon Hopkins albums Domino Recording Company albums