Jon Hopkins - Breathe This Air (feat. Purity Ring)
Purity Ring's Megan James lends her glossy voice to Jon Hopkins' "Breathe This Air" rehash, swooping nimbly through the layers of mechanized feedback and the constant angular motion of industrial undertoe.
I always go hunting for lyrics when I hear a song this good. It's a testament to the power of music to legitimize a lyric. It doesn't matter if it's something totally inane ("sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah") or whimsical ("I wake and I miss the sea"), though the more axiomatic, the better, really. If it's set to a couple good chords and a gulping bass beat, I'll find myself doing the dishes, turning it over and over in my head like it's goddamn Shakespeare.
I sleep and I wish for not a thing at all But the rest of the rest that will take me.
In this case, nobody seems to be able make sense of the second verse. This was my favorite failed attempt. Unintelligible lyrics is one of those sadistic things that electronic artists do so often, and every time it makes me want to set fire to my headphones in frustration. Tell me I'm not the only one.
That said, there's plenty to praise here. The original track comes from Hopkins' acclaimed Summer release Immunity, and "Breathe This Air" is a cathartic bike ride. The technology that helps you escape technology.